Papa
by College Fool
Summary: Claymore Number 47 was shocked. The young man, no, Raki, stood in front of her. At his elbow clung a young girl, eyes hidden. But that child’s one word echoed through her ears:“Papa.” A series of shorts on a uncommon angle. Complete.
1. Teaser Trailer

A much lighter tone than the summary suggests. I've taken a few liberties with the exact timing of events, but just imagine that good ol' Raki is a week ahead of schedule due to events to-be-specified.

I still don't own Claymore.

---

Papa

---

Number 47 was the rank assigned to the weakest Claymore. Few advertised that number, and fewer still lived to gain rank. Those that did rarely rose much higher. This one likely never would receive a higher number, for many reasons.

Number 47 was beyond shocked, nearly dropping the weapon that gave Claymores their title. The young man, no, Raki, stood in front of her. At his elbow clung a young girl, eyes hidden. But that child's one word echoed through her ears.

"Papa."

When that one word came from her lips, she knew her world would never be the same again.

---


	2. Holding Out For A Hero

For those who paid attention to the main character identification, that was not a mistake. Clarice is the primary focus, and Raki is the secondary. And though romance is the secondary genre, this isn't really a Clarice/Raki WAFF romance. More like onesided romantic undertones. Raki is still firmly in for Clare.

---

She was running from the Awakened Being. No one would blame Number 47, the weakest of all the Claymores. Awakened Beings were dangerous even for higher numbers, and at the moment she was alone, unable even to sense yoma energy now that she was on Yoma suppressants.

Much good that stealth did her now, as the Awakened Being roared again. Dodging right when she should have dodged left, a glancing blow sent her flying through several trees and down the hill. Stunned, she could only grasp for her sword as the beast prepared to send its entire arm forward to impale her.

"Stay down!" shouted a voice she had never heard, and a cloaked figure rushed past her. The figure dodged the monster's blow, and the full stroke of a broadsword cleaved the arm off at the elbow. Dodging retaliatory swipe that followed, the figure jumped back, cloak opening to reveal a beautiful, muscular young man.

"Are you alright?" he asked, a gentle smile on his face as he quickly looked back at her.

Clarice, often derided as too human to truly be a Claymore, felt her heart skip a beat.

---


	3. Pride

I guess this was installment two. Part three, with the title quote, will just be tomorrow morning.

---

The Awakened Being roared, reminding them both that it remained a serious threat. The male looked forward, not willing to take his eyes off the foe.

"I am Raki," he briskly introduced himself. "Can you stand?" he asked.

Clarice stumbled to her feet, somehow. "Y-yes," she stammered through her fear of the monster. But her training as a Claymore quickly took over. "You should get out of here! This yoma is too dangerous!"

"I've seen worse," Raki said nonchalantly. "You just need to be especially careful. But you should escape now, while I hold him off."

Clarice's eyes only widened further as she realize that _he_ was trying to protect _her_. If only her lack of self-esteem weren't weaker than her pride as a Claymore, she would-

That was the moment everything went to hell.

---


	4. Papa

---

The exact sequence of events would forever blur in Clarice's mind.

The Yoma again charged forward, roaring and sending forth bursts to impale its two targets.

Raki, with a masterful handling of his broadsword, avoided the tendrils and used his momentum to slice those that were heading towards Clarice, and rushed forward.

Clarice, not quite stumbling out of the way of the attack, began to prepare to pick up Raki and at least try and carry him to safety.

Then Miata arrived, and suddenly there was so much blood and violence of action that Clarice was unable to remember anything else. The human was keeping better track than she was, and was even trying to strike his own blows, had Miata let him.

But though the events were blurred, the final image was as engraved in her memory as her symbol was into her sword.

Raki stood, a faint smile on his lips though he was clearly confused. For beside him was Miata, holding onto his side with enough strength that Clarice suspected the young man would have bruises. But it was her words that were what upset Clarice's precarious world view.

"Papa… papa…"

---


	5. Shame

As someone already noted, there aren't many details and descriptions in this work, besides general identifiers. That is intentional. Prose, with verbose descriptions and settings, is hard enough at the best of times, and inflates the word count like nothing else. Fighting length-creep is hard enough, even though longer entries become more and more necessary later on.

---

Clarice jogged towards the two, unsure of what to say. Seeing that Miata was unlikely to release her grip on him anytime soon, Raki simply pet her blood-stained hair, awkwardly at first but smoothly now. Miata continued to bury her head into him, repeating that one word over and over.

Raki turned to look at Clarice as she approached. "You're unharmed as well?" he asked. Seeing it was obviously so, he used his free hand to gesture at Miata. "Do you think you could…?"

Clarice nodded. "Miata, come here," she urged.

Miata turned her head to look at here, but shook her head. Clarice spoke again.

"Miata, come to mama," she said in a fractionally firmer tone. Miata still didn't move, but Raki started.

"You're her mother?" He looked at her closer. "And that brown hair… could you really be a Claymore?"

It only added to Clarice's shame that the unstable ground beneath her gave way, sending her tumbling backwards in the dirt.

---


	6. Dinner Apology

---

"I apologize for doubting you," Raki said a short time later. "I know that Claymores eat little, but please, help yourselves," he said, indicating the food he had prepared over the fire.

Clarice, who had eaten little but tasteless rations for the last weeks, gladly forgave him. She reached forward and grabbed a leg of meat, and then split it and passed some to Miata, who had placed herself firmly between them. But Miata refused to release her hold on either adult, and wouldn't take the food.

"Take some, Miata," Raki urged.

"It tastes good," agreed Clarice, who was deeply enjoying her own portion. For once it was her who felt pity for the other Claymores, who rarely enjoyed food like this… "It's not bitter at all."

Miata grudgingly took a piece, and took a tentative bite. Whatever it tasted like, she must have liked it because she promptly took a second bite, and then a third, making happy noises all the while.

It was a stroke of genius when Clarice thought to hide a yoma suppressant in Miata's portion.

---


	7. Travel Plans

---

Dinner was over, but the three remained by the fire, Miata refusing once again to let go of either of them, leading them to sit in a V shape with Miata in the middle.

Raki laughed lightly. "She really is a child, isn't she?" he asked, not unkindly.

"Yes, she is…" admitted Clarice. "I'm sorry to ask to accompany you, but I'm not sure I could separate Miata from you if I tried."

"Don't worry," Raki waved off. "I know how these things go. I'm also looking for someone in this area, and another person besides. Traveling with others will make it easier to find them, and for them to find me. But tell me," he leaned forward, "do you know where you are going?"

"We were going to try to search the wilderness first," admitted Clarice. "Miata will eventually find our target, but if we can do so without disturbing the humans, so much the better."

"A bit late for that, wouldn't you say?" asked Raki, smiling to lessen any offense. "But I'd suggest heading to Rabona now," he advised. "Or rather, I am making my way to Rabona, and you two are welcome to join me."

"Rabona?" Clarice yelped, and Miata quickly raised her head to detect any threat. "Rabona is dangerous! They're famous for their hatred of Claymores!" she hissed, lowering her voice.

Raki shook his head. "It's changed since then, I've seen it. I know people, and they can discreetly help you find this person of yours without fuss. And if the person isn't there, we can always come back and search the wilderness."

Clarice bit her lip. "Alright," she agreed, "but why do you want to go straight to Rabona anyway?"

"I'm looking for two people, and they've both been there with me. Since a friend's daughter and I were split up a recently, I wanted to get there first, in case she went straight there."

"But why the rush? Why not search the area with us?" Clarice asked, curious. "If she's a young girl, surely she would just stay in the nearest village until you found her?"

Raki's lips thinned. "It would ease my mind to check Rabona first," he said.

---


	8. Mission Admission

---

A good deal of time passed before anything else was said. Miata, as if sensing the tension, pulled the two even harder towards her, as if urging them to make peace.

"We're looking for a traitor," Clarice eventually said to break the silence. "She's a former Claymore who betrayed the Organization, Galatea."

Raki looked up, slightly confused. "That's why the two of us are out here," Clarice clarified. "I sincerely hope that she isn't in Rabona; that could get too messy, and innocents could get hurt."

"I see," said Raki. "It speaks well of you to be concerned about others. That makes you a better Claymore than some I've met," he said, and unconsciously began stroking lines on his arms as if out of memory.

Clarice felt embarrassed but pleased at the praise, despite knowing that being flattered so by a human only proved that she really was an incomplete Claymore. And as if to make it worse, Raki noticed.

"I mean it," he said. "I've seen many different kinds of Claymores. Many are good, but some are absolutely bloodthirsty, so much so that it's hard to tell them apart from the yoma they fight. I much prefer the kinder ones, regardless of much weaker they might be.

"Who are you looking for? You've told me about your friend's daughter, but who was the other?" she asked, changing the subject focus.

Raki leaned back, looking up at the stars. "Another Claymore, actually. I'm not even sure she would recognize me, but I know I'll never forget her."

Clarice and even Miata both looked at him in surprise.

---


	9. The Other Woman

---

"She was one of a kind," Raki admitted, "she never told me how exactly, but apparently she was a unique Claymore, even compared to the others." Clarice knew what it was to be one of a kind, and that it wasn't always pleasant.

"She said she was weak, but she always put others before her and came through. She was willing to put her own life in peril for my own safety." Clarice reflected back to their earlier battle, remembered how she had been going to try and ensure him a chance to escape, even at the cost of her own life.

"All of her peers teased her for being weaker than the rest. When she went to hunt her first Awakened Being, they wouldn't even give her the time of day, they laughed in her face. But she didn't complain.." Clarice gave Raki a look that he didn't catch.

Instead, she asked, "Was she given unusual missions for unusual reasons? Sent against foes beyond her level, or unusual tasks for unusual reasons?"

Raki laughed. "Did she? I don't remember her getting a normal mission after letting me follow." He sighed. "I've wanted to see her again for so long. I just want to be able to travel with her again. I've spent years working to be able to help her, or at least to not hinder her." Clarice remembered how he had wounded the Awakened with his broadsword, how he had handled himself as one who could stand up to such a powerful yoma.

"She is a very lucky Claymore," Clarice said, not quite able to stamp out the irrational pangs of jealousy inside her.

Raki turned to look at her, his sincere brown eyes meeting her yoma-suppressent induced natural hues. Clarice did not breath.

"Do you know her? Do you know Claymore Number 47?"

"Do you know Clare?"

---


	10. Mother Necessity

Someone asked when they will get to Rabonna.

The answer is when they get there. Walking places takes awhile, you know.

---

Night was awkward, not least because childish Miata insisted on sleeping with both of her 'parents'. Which, consequently, meant that they had to sleep together as well. It was easy enough to agree that Miata would stay between them, but Miata's unique habit was rearing its head, so to speak.

"Would you mind, er," Clarice trailed off, unsure of how to ask. Most other Claymores wouldn't have been ashamed anyway. "Would you mind facing the other way?"

Raki, who had been about to doze off with his back towards the woods, opened his eyes. "Why?" he asked, no stubbornly but rather with the tone of a person in a comfortable position and reluctant to move.

"It's Miata," Clarice confessed, struggling to keep the girl at arm's length.

Raki raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. "I'm not going to touch her, you know. She may be physically grown, but she's still a child at heart."

"That's just it," Clarice tried to explain. "She's like an infant. And like infants, she, well…" Spirits, this was embarrassing…

"Well?" prodded Raki, proving that he had never lived with a real infant.

"She suckles, alright?" Clarice come close to yelling, face going as dark as her unnaturally natural hair. "It's embarrassing enough in private!"

Raki blinked, and suddenly comprehended. Blushing himself, he stuttered an apology and turned over, despite cold now bracing his front.

"Thank you," Clarice breathed, and stopped her quiet struggle with Miata, letting the young girl have her way with her breast. Suddenly she let out a pained yip.

"What was that?" asked Raki, concerned.

"Teeth," she answered, and surpassed a laugh when Raki's ears turn red.

Raki said nothing more that night, asked no questions, but the next morning Clarice noticed that he had the beginning of bags under his eyes.

---


	11. Morning Shock

---

Morning came as a surprise to Clarice, on multiple accounts. For one, she had been expecting to wake up early to Miata's morning session, but for once Miata's teeth were not in sight.

More alarmingly, Miata was not in sight either.

Clarice sat up with a jolt, hand coming to her still-bare breast. The campsite was empty, and though Raki's cooking tools were still present, he and his sword were not.

Clarice quickly got up, and strained her still-suppressed senses for any sign of the two. Instead, her sharp senses heard the sound of a splash. Bounding to the source, she found a small river, and in it were Raki and Miata, both alive and well.

Clarice breathed a sigh of relief, and took a closer look at the surroundings. At the side of the river was Raki's sword, acting as an impromptu cloak rack. Miata had placed her cloak on it, though thankfully only Raki had put his boots and over-clothes on it before entering the stream. Miata remained in her full Claymore tunic.

As she watched, though, Clarice saw something she had not seen before. Miata was _laughing_, giggling with childish delight as Raki made a show out of catching small fish and tossing them on his cloak at the edge of the stream. Though Miata was likely the source of most of the small fish on the pile, Raki made a great game out of trying to catch one in particular, one that swam around his ankles and nibbled on his toes.

Clarice smiled, part of her relieved to see Miata looking like a normal child. Part of her silently wondered what would happen when the two of them had to part ways with Raki, but she silenced such thoughts with uncommon force of will.

Raki looked up and saw her. "Clarice, you're awake!" he called, waving. Miata turned to face her as well, a beautiful smile on her face. "Miata and I are still catching breakfast! Why don't you join us?"

Clarice, who had left her cloak at the campsite in her haste, smiled and jumped to join them.

---


	12. No Need For Modesty

---

"I'm sorry," Raki apologized once again over the embers of the cooking fire. "I should have warned you that the stream bed was slippery."

"Don't apologize," Clarice said with a grimace. "I had thought you were just exaggerating your movements to play with Miata."

"Well, that too," Raki admitted. "But now your uniform is soaked, and that tear…"

Raki had done his best not to see anything as he and Miata had hurried to help her in that stream, but Clarice knew she had shown more than just her exemplary coordination. He had courteously loaned her his own cloak until it could be repaired, which would likely be some time after it dried.

"I am a soldier," she simply reminded him, Claymores never calling themselves such. "I'll do what I have to. I won't mind," she lied as she self-consciously closed her legs even tighter and gripped the cloak around her.

Miata looked between the two, confused as to what the problem was.

---


	13. Downside

---

Travel towards Rabona was a novel experience. One advantage of having an additional male companion was that now she and Miata could pose as part of an entire family, not just a mother-daughter pair. Anyone doubting such would only need to observe Miata to be convinced otherwise.

Another advantage was that strangers paid more heed to a man with a broadsword than they did two women. Clarice had never encountered bandits before, but had always feared the possibility. They beat many lessons into prospective Claymores during training, and the inviolability of all humans was one of those. A Claymore that wanted to keep her life could only attempt to defend and flee.

Raki, however, had no such restriction. After the third bandit fell with effortless ease to his sword, the bandits retreated. Cries of yoma in human flesh and even panic over a male Claymore accompanied their retreat, spurring them on even faster.

"Well, that didn't take long," he said with a faint smile, wiping his blade. "Neither of you were harmed, right?"

But there was a downside. Miata rushed to his side, cries of Papa coming from her shaking form. Clarice gripped Raki's cloak tighter around her, also relieved that they had not had to stand aside and watch him be butchered in front of them, unable to lift a single finger to help.

---


	14. Before She Gets The Wrong Idea

---

When Raki stopped with hours of light left in the sky, Clarice assumed he had been tired by the encounter with the bandits. She sent Miata to find water, while she set out to clear the area for a campsite, all while urging Raki to take a rest.

"How is you uniform?" Raki asked, leaning back against a broad tree. "Still wet?"

"No, it's dried," Clarice said. "Thank you for lending me you cloak during the day, though."

"Let me see it," bade Raki, startling Clarice.

"But, then my uniform, you'll see…" she stammered at his sudden demand.

"Exactly, that's the idea," said Raki. "It would be rather hard to do this if you were still wearing that. Now hurry; it'll be awkward if Miata sees you doing this."

"Doing this?" Clarice cried, flushing. "Aren't you tired from the bandits?"

"Only some," Raki said. "I stopped early because I knew this would take awhile, and it would be awkward doing this at night after dark."

"Raki," Clarice warned, anger mixing with embarrassment, "I haven't known you long, but…"

Raki sighed. "But nothing. Do you have any idea how hard it is to sew in the dark? Just keep the cloak on and take off the uniform over there, before Miata comes back and gets any wrong ideas."

---


	15. Handyman

---

"I've never met a man who could sew," Clarice admitted a short time later, sitting with Raki's cloak covering her. Miata sat between her legs, head leaning back against her chest. Both watched as Raki's fingers skillfully threaded needles and reconnected the torn fabric. "In my village, that was left to the women."

"I didn't seven years ago," Raki admitted with a needle pursed between his lips. "But it seemed like a good thing to learn. It could be something I do to help, and it would be rather embarrassing if I were the one slowing her down, all because I can't repair my own clothes. You Claymore's may be able to endure the elements, but I can't."

"I'm not very good with the cold myself," sympathized Clarice. "After the Northern Lands, I hope I never have to see a glacier again."

Raki briefly looked up from his work. "You've been to Pieta?" he asked, then cursed as the needle between his lips dropped onto the ground.

"Not too long ago," Clarice said, bending forward and handing the needle back to Raki while maintaining the cloak's modesty around her. "I was part of an Awakened Being hunt that went bad. We all survived, but…" she trailed off, not sure if she should tell him of their mysterious rescuers. "Did you travel North once?"

He snorted, careful this time not to drop the needle. "You could say that. I was taken by slavers, and left to rot in a cell."

Clarice wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, but it did make her rethink the rule against killing humans.

---


	16. Reminder

---

"Ah" didn't seem like a good enough response. "How did you survive? I saw no trace of life left in the North."

Raki took the needle out of his mouth, ready to finish his repairs. "I saw that too. I was trapped in a basement cell while the surface was attacked, and only escaped afterwards. After I escaped, I saw a young girl, sitting under a damaged overhang. After I saved her, I met her keeper, and they took me to shelter."

Clarice, though sometimes clumsy, was sharp. "Was this man your friend, the one whose daughter you were separated from?"

Raki nodded, finishing another stitch. "That is them. She is still a small girl, though. I worry about her."

"I'm sure you'll find her soon," Clarice said supportively.

Raki held up the completed uniform. "How does it feel?" he asked when she returned from putting it on.

His stitches were neat and uniform, forming a curve from the offended area to the natural seam. Though obvious, it was tasteful and of good quality, not breaking when she experimentally pulled on it. Only the unusual touch to her lower regions stood out, and that was something she would gladly learn to live with.

"It seems fine. Thank you very much, Raki."

Raki waved it off. "Don't mention it. Just think of it as something to remember me by when we part ways."

Clarice wanted to tear it to shreds then and there for reminding her, and she knew Miata would agree.

---


	17. Rainy Night

---

During the night, it rained. Being in the woodlands, there were no caves to be found in the immediate area. Instead, the three of them huddled underneath the branches of a small tree. Space and modesty were afterthoughts, warmth and safety paramount. Raki said nothing when Miata partook of her evening ritual, and Clarice did not say a word of their proximity.

Even with Raki's cloak acting as a rain-guard, the three of them were reliant on the two Claymore's cloaks for warmth. To get the most coverage, Miata had to literally sit atop the other two, who themselves were leaning against each other. It wasn't comfortable, but it was better than the alternatives.

"I think I may need more sleep tomorrow," Raki confessed after a few hours of continuous rain. He had given up on true sleep, instead taking as much rest as he could from their position. "That is, if the rain even stops by then. It wouldn't be good for me to go far in this weather." He sounded impatient with any delay for their trip to Rabona.

Beside him, Clarice wondered what she would do if he came down sick, and decided she didn't want to have to find out. "If it doesn't let up, Miata and I will find the nearest cave," she declared. "Miata's senses are good for that, but there won't be much point in us searching the area in this downpour. Right, Miata?"

Miata looked up from her position on their laps. "Yes, Mama," she whispered, barely audible over the rain.

Raki shifted a hand from under the cloak to pat Miata's head, brushing water from her brow. "That's a good girl," he said with sincere affection. Miata leaned further into them both putting her head in between their shoulders.

"Papa… Mama…" she breathed, sounding for the entire world as if they were in a warm bed in a small cottage, not cold and wet in some forest days away from Rabona.

---


	18. Simple

---

Soon Miata's breathing normalized, and the most powerful one of the three was asleep.

Raki sighed, and lowered his right hand back under the cloak. "I wish I could sleep that easy," he admitted.

Clarice didn't complain when his cold hand brushed her arm. "She does have the best pillow among us," she pointed out instead.

"Your chest or mine?" Raki joked.

"Both," said Clarice in all seriousness, grabbing his cold hand in her own for emphasis. "She really believes that we are both her parents, the ones she lost to yoma. I don't know why she took to you, but don't underestimate her just because she's young. She's already one of the most powerful of us, and has the potential to be Number 1. If you remember nothing else, please remember that."

Raki sighed. "This is only inviting trouble, you know. Whether at Rabona or not, once we find your target we will have to part ways. You two will have to return to the Organization, and I will continue my search for my precious ones."

"I know," admitted Clarice. "It won't be simple or easy." It was liable to be a disaster.

"It might be best for you two if I just left right now. I go South, you go North, and pray that we never meet again."

"That would be the most efficient way," she conceded, ignoring the sensation of her newly repaired tunic against her body.

"But you don't want me to," perceived Raki. "I know Claymores. Whenever a Claymore acts like that, it means that their heart is fighting against their brain. But Clarice," he asked, looking into her eyes, "what does your heart want?"

"I don't know," admitted Clarice. "This, all of this, is confusing. Miata confuses me, this mission confuses me. My very nature as an incomplete warrior confuses me."

"Do I confuse you?" Raki asked softly.

"I don't even know that," she admitted. "I've certainly never met a man like you before, one who could stand up to a yoma with such power and grace. And if you were to leave now, I doubt I ever would again. And then Miata would also be sad."

She sighed, and leaned her head against Miata's head. "I just don't want to think about this now," she said, weariness creeping into her voice.

"Well," Raki said, "I'm not leaving now." He put his head over Miata's as well, and all three of their heads connected.

Clarice rubbed his still-cold hand in thanks.

---


	19. Thirteen

---

It was still raining.

"Miata, do you understand? We need to find a cave, any cave large enough for us, so we can stay dry. Then we can do that thing you want to do," Clarice promised.

Miata nodded her head, and quickly ran off, using all of her senses to look for a cave big enough for her Mama and Papa. Clarice and Raki watched her go.

"Will she really find one quickly?" asked Raki. "In this weather?"

"Better than I would," said Clarice. "Her senses are sharper than anyone's I've ever met. They border on supernatural."

"Supernatural, huh?" pondered Raki. "I just hope you're right. I'll definitely enjoy a chance to dry off."

"And me as well," agreed Clarice. "I won't even mind a day without walking for miles."

Rake opened his mouth, but suddenly rushed her and pushed her against the tree they had spent the night under. Before she could protest, he put a finger to her mouth. "Yoma," he whispered, and she immediately tensed, reaching for her own Claymore. "The regular kind."

"How many?" she mouthed, already upset that she hadn't been able to sense them before he spotted them.

His eyes narrowed. "Ten?" he replied with uncertainty. "Maybe a few more." Too many for any human, no matter how good. Too many for most low level Claymores. If only the Yoma would pass them in this rain…

"Thirteen, actually," came a voice from above as a winged yoma descended, and the battle began.

---


	20. Struggle

---

Had they been rested, organized, and at full strength on a dry day, the battle would have been effortless. Miata alone would have torn through their ranks, Clarice could have held her own against a few, and Raki's swordsmanship would allow him to deal with any one or two of them at a time.

But they were not rested, organized, or at full strength. And it was as far from dry as they could get.

Raki's swings were slower and slightly clumsier than they should have been: what would have normally been lethal strikes merely chopped off a careless arm or leg. His cold and tired muscles were cramped, slower and weaker than they had any right to be. He had scored a surprise kill against that first one who rushed the human, but the rest had quickly learned to not underestimate him.

Clarice hindered as much by the weather as her own inexperience. Though she and Raki sought to work together, the elements conspired against them. What would have been a decapitating strike fell short when wet leaves slid from under her: though she maintained her balance, her opponent darted out of range. Another time she had sought to jump over Raki in an attempt at a sneak attack against the foe he was locked with, but then Raki had been sent sliding in slick mud and Clarice had scrambled just to pull him away from an aerial dive-bomb.

The enemy now numbered nine, but while many of them were injured or missing a limb, there were all cautious, intent at forcing their foes to run out of stamina. Raki's arm was shaking, his sword being held ever closer to his body, and Clarice's miniscule yokai reserves were no match for all of the remainder.

"Y-you should run," Clarice panted. "I can hold them off, and you can make it to Miata."

"You should go, and bring her back," countered Raki, also panting. "I won't die here, not until I fulfill my promise. Go!"

Clarice loudly and rudely refused.

"I have an idea," offered one of the yoma. "Why don't you both die!"

The enemy charged. Clarice blocked the claws of two with her claymore, but could only watch in horror through her peripheral vision as a third yoma dropped from behind, hand wide in a talon slash that would cut through her neck in a single blow…

"No!"

There was Raki, shouldering her out of the way. There was a scream (Of pain? Of fear? His? Hers? Both?), even as the yoma prepared to deliver a second, final, blow.

And then there was Miata, and there were oceans of blood.

---


	21. Bloody Tears

---

"Papa!" Miata yelled as she cleaved through the offending yoma in a single blow.

"Mama!" she screamed, throwing her blade to impale the next yoma to try and harm Clarice from behind.

"Mama! Papa!" she cried, as the yoma tried to dog-pile the weaponless Claymore. A finger quickly found its way through one's skull, and that one was torn apart from the inside.

"Miata…" whispered Clarice, horrified by the demonstration of savage brutality from the girl as another yoma was ripped to shreds by bare hands.

"Mama!" cried Miata, stretching an arm out to Clarice even while disemboweling another without even looking.

"Papa…" she wept over the final corpse, that one crushed by sheer enhanced strength.

Beside her, Raki stirred. "Bring me too her," he managed through gritted teeth, face in the mud. "She needs to see me herself."

As shocked as she was that he was still alive, Clarice tenderly picked up the man, careful to avoid his bloody shoulder. Judging by his wince, it wasn't gentle enough.

"It's alright, Miata" Raki found the strength to say. "I'm alive."

"Papa!" Miata cried again, but this time there was clear relief. "Papa!"

"He's here, Miata," Clarice called. "He's alive," she echoed him.

Miata rushed towards them, mindless of the blood that had bathed her. "Mama… Papa…" she cried, embracing them. "Don't die… don't leave me again…"

Raki either couldn't or didn't move his wounded shoulder to return the embrace. Instead, he only said whispered "Shh, Miata. I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

---


	22. Words

---

In the cave, Clarice tenderly finished applying the bandage on Raki's shoulder after cleaning the wounds.

"You were lucky," she said. "The slash wasn't deep, but just looked worse because of the many small veins that were ripped out. You shoulder should heal completely before we even get to Rabona." She paused, unsure of how to continue. "Raki, what you did…"

"Was incredibly foolish, I know," he said from his makeshift stone seat. His other arm encircled the still-bloody Miata, and he spoke with no hint of concern for his brush with death.

"It was worse than foolish!" Clarice yelled, the emotions from the battle venting through her. "You could have died because of that!"

"I won't die," he said firmly, as if that explained everything. "Not until I fulfill my promise. But what kind of person would I be if I had let you die? I would never be able to face Clare."

"You should have, Raki!" she yelled, tears not quite springing to her eyes. "You're only human, but I am half-yoma! No, not even that, I'm the failed result of a botched process! She would understand if I died to save you! This is what we were made to do!"

"No!" Raki yelled back, raising his voice in anger for the first time since they had met. "You are human at heart, just like her! All of you are! And don't you ever call yourself a failure again! You are alive, and should live now while you still can!"

She glared at him for risking his life for such a foolish reason. He glared at her for not valuing herself.

But Miata cried. "Mama, Papa, stop! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she pleaded, apologizing needlessly, tears falling down her face. Raki and Clarice looked at her, then looked at each other, and nodded in agreement. Any arguing did not need to be done in front of the child.

"I'm sorry, Miata," Clarice said, giving the girl a gentle hug. "Mama is just upset that Papa was hurt. You did nothing wrong."

"I'm sorry too," said Raki. "We both care for you very much," and he also hugged the distraught girl.

Miata greedily clung to them both.

---


	23. Return to Normality

---

"We should clean ourselves up," Raki said once Miata had calmed down. He gestured to still-bloody Miata. "Some of us more than others."

Clarice nodded, glad at some semblance for normality. She stood up, an arm on Miata's shoulders. "Let's go clean you up, Miata," she said. Miata, still holding tightly onto them both, didn't even complain at the prospect of a bath.

It wasn't a real bath, of course, but the rain was heavy enough to serve as a shower. It was times like these that Clarice could appreciate the Claymore uniform; plain, durable, and amazingly easy to clean. She wondered which of those traits had been most important in the minds of the designers.

As it was, though, the blood only took a bit of rubbing to come out. As Clarice handled the blood on the main body of Miata's leotard, Raki was taking care of the blood on the arms, and working to get as much from the hair as he could.

"Miata, I really am going to have to buy you a brush when we get to the next town," Raki said as he worked to untangle another knot of hair.

"Papa…?" the girl asked.

"You've got wonderful hair, don't get me wrong. And I'm amazed that you Claymores can keep their hair as good as well as they can, given the circumstances. But we really need to get this under control, or else one day you'll find yourself hanging by your roots when you jump out of a tree and your hair decides that it wants to stay still."

Clarice tried to imagine it, and began to collapse into giggles. Miata and Raki looked at her oddly.

"I didn't think it was that funny," said Raki, pausing from his work.

"I'm sorry," said Clarice, trying to gain control over herself, "but I just had this image of Miata swinging from limb to limb like a monkey, but instead of arms she used her hair with yoma-energy, and then she started posing…" and she burst into giggles again.

It wasn't that it was that funny, though it could have been. Rather, it was all the stress and emotion from the evening as a whole flowing out of Clarice's system. Raki understood it, and chuckled himself.

"Yeah," he agreed, "that would be a pretty funny sight." He moved in front of Miata to be face to face, and put a finger on her nose. "Alright, Miata? Don't ever cut your hair unless you have to. Mama wants you to have big long hair that you can swing from, alright?"

Miata didn't really get it, but she smiled and nodded anyway, happy that Mama and Papa were happy with each other again and that all was right in the world.

---


	24. Expediency vs Decency

---

Drying off in the cave was a battle of its own, a battle between expediency and decency.

"How are we going to do this?" wondered Raki aloud. "Should I go into the back of the cave, and just not come up until you two's clothes are dried?"

"Our uniforms are would dry quickly on us if we used yoma energy, but that's really not an option, is it?" mused Clarice. "What do we have that is close to dry?"

"Your two cloaks," Raki answered. "They didn't get as wet last night as everything else, covered as they were by my cloak."

"Two cloaks won't cover three people," pointed out Clarice. "What would you and She do, if you were traveling in this situation today?" she asked. The She was understood to be the other Number 47, the other Claymore companion. Clarice couldn't bring herself to say Her name.

"I'm not sure," Raki said, but Clarice could see a faint blush, "but I don't think we could do it, especially with a third person."

The tease was too easy to pass up; before she had been turned into a Claymore, Clarice had heard the barmaids talk. "It's harder without a soft surface, but you still can," she said, pretending to think of ways. "I'm sure Miata wouldn't mind; her own parents must have, after all."

Raki blanched, but then noticed her shaking shoulders. "Not funny," he said, but he was laughing as well.

"You should have seen your face," Clarice disagreed, for once entirely unashamed by her un-Claymore humanity. "More seriously, I think the best thing we can do is for Miata and I too sleep in our uniforms. Our bodies can handle it better: you should take the cloaks."

Raki, bless his kind soul, looked unsure. "Are you sure? I can still sleep in the back."

"She'll never let you sleep away from her," tried to explain Clarice, but Raki was intent on getting the third one's opinion.

"Miata!" he called, getting the attention of the young girl who was watching the rain fall outside the entrance. "Do you mind sleeping in your wet uniform tonight?"

Clarice quickly, gently, but firmly rotated Raki around as she saw how Miata intended to demonstrate her opinion on the matter.

"Miata, no! I don't care how wet it is, don't take off your uniform to dry!"

---


	25. Of Sneaking and Shopping

---

Two days out from Rabona, they came across a town where they decided to do some necessary shopping. For Raki, it was a matter of buying fresh food and bandages for his improving shoulder. For Clarice and Miata, it was a matter of seeking a disguise.

When Raki saw their full-body cloaks, he shook his head and immediately dragged them towards another shop over Clarice's protest. Raki turned to them, a look of exasperation in his eyes.

"You don't know how long you're going to be in the city, right?" he asked. "But you think you can go the entire time in just a hooded cloak? At this time of year? The Rabona city guard is made of humans, not idiots. They'll spot you immediately."

Clarice was offended, but would take advice from someone who had been there before. "What did you do last time, then?" she asked.

"For one, we hid the swords before taking them in the city. The city has been at peace lately, so a simple cart should be enough. Second, hide the uniform."

Clarice didn't gasp in shock, but the idea hadn't seemed right to her. Before she gave an ignorant-sounding "why?" though, Raki continued.

"Your uniform is perfectly fine once you fight, but what if someone stops to search you? Or there's a gust of wind that blows up your cloak? No, you need some sort of civilian attire, something you can stroll around in without a second thought. There are blondes in the world who aren't Claymores, but no one else wears those silver uniforms and wields those swords. Hide those, or wear something else over them, and we won't be delayed."

"So what do you recommend?" asked Clarice.

"More shopping," Raki said. "You were a girl once, don't you remember?"

Clarice did remember. Somewhere, the bursar of the Organization trembled in fearful anticipation.

---


	26. License to Tempt Fate

---

As the wagon pulled up to the gate, Raki whispered to the two Claymores. "Remember, let me handle this. I know these people, and can get us through here faster."

Clarice swore that he was baiting karma.

As they pulled up to the city walls, guards came to inspect them. Though they poked and prodded the hay in the back of the cart, Raki had been correct in that they would not try to move the hay to search for the hidden compartment in which their swords lay. The initial screening checked passed, next came the questions.

"Purpose for entering the city?" asked a bored guard.

"Selling goods, and to show my wife and daughter Rabona," lied Raki easily. Beside him, Clarice drew upon her own Claymore training to play the part of a demure wife. Miata just acted as she always did, and was by far the most sincere and convincing.

"Obey the laws, and enjoy your stay," yawned the guard waving him through. As they passed through the gates, Clarice turned her head and took her own turn baiting karma.

"That seemed too easy."

Clarice lacked Raki's experience, discretion, and license to tempt (fate).

"Stop!"

---


	27. Disruption

---

"It is you, Raki!"

Clarice had already tensed, and Miata had followed. It would only take a moment to smash through the cart and retrieve the swords, and then they could fight off guards as the three of them made a break for the gates…

"Galk!" Raki exclaimed, quickly climbing down the cart. Any thoughts of violence fled from the Claymores minds as they saw Raki embrace the other man in a strong embrace. "It's been too long!"

"It always is," the other man replied. "But this time you haven't shot up another three feet, unless my eyes deceive me. Tell me, what are you doing here again so soon? It hasn't even been a full year since your last visit." He looked past Raki and saw Clarice and Miata. "And who are these two?"

Raki shook his head. "I was going to bring these two to you and Sid anyways. It will take a while, and…" he nodded his head at the assembling crowd, as well as the soldiers.

"I see," said the Rabona Knight. "I'll take you to Sid myself, and we can sort this out without fuss."

"Thank you," said Raki. Then he shifted his weight. "I don't suppose you've…?"

Galk shook his head. "Not a sign of her." He looked around, and asked "and where is that girl who was with you last time? Did she return to her father?"

Raki deflated even more. "We were separated in the last few weeks," he admitted. "I was hoping to see if she had come here, before I looked elsewhere."

"I don't keep an eye for children, but Sid may have heard something. Come," he said. "I'll escort you three, so you don't cause a disruption with the guards."

---


	28. Good City, Good Company

---

"See?" Raki told Clarice as they proceeded through the city. "I know people."

Clarice, however, was barely paying attention to him, too captivated by the city around her. "So this is Rabona…" she breathed.

Raki laughed, remembering his own first visit. "Never been here before?" he asked.

Clarice shook her head. "Not even before I was selected. It's so… big. And alive. You'd think every yoma on the continent would head here for a feast."

Raki shook his head. "It's big, but it's also well armed. Rabona isn't just the largest city on the continent; it's also a fortress, with a standing guard that is trained to work together to defeat yoma. No yoma band can conquer the walls, and even inside they can be brought out of hiding."

"It's just… different from what I'm used to," Clarice said. "Not bad, but hardly the same. The appearance, the quality, the power despite their level, everything is just so outside the norm."

"Just like us, eh? We aren't exactly the most regular bunch ourselves," he said, indicating the yoma-slaying human, the infantile Number 4 who stayed close to them in and out of the crowds, and herself, the brown-haired Number 47 who sat beside him.

"Different is good," Clarice agreed.

---


	29. Tease

---

Clarice half wanted to laugh at Raki's expression. The other half also wanted to laugh, but felt guilty for doing so.

"So Raki, what's this I hear about a family now?" the smaller man had said as they had walked in the door. "First Clare, then that little girl, and now these two? You need to learn responsibility, brat!"

"It's not like that!" Raki had exclaimed, and for a moment he really did look like a young teen, rising to the teasing of an older peer.

"Oh?" said Sid, raising an eyebrow. "Then what about her?"

Her was Miata, who was all but clinging to Raki in the face of Sid's… personality. Sid continued. "You need to learn to not lose your women, Raki. Woman hate it when a man forgets about an anniversary, or forgetting about them for a moment, but losing track of them? Unforgivable!"

Raki grit his teeth, but said nothing. It was probably his best defense at this point.

"What do you think about Raki, little girl?" Sid had asked Miata.

"Papa?" Miata responded, looking to Raki for guidance. Raki had sighed as Sid laughed and ruffled her hair anyway, but now he had that expression, and she was trying so hard not to laugh…

---


	30. Haste

---

"How about you, pretty Claymore?" Sid asked. "Do you think Raki makes a good spouse, 'Mama?'"

Having the teasing turned on her wasn't quite as fun. "No, no," she said, waving her hand and trying not to let him get the best of her. "Miata is… special. She and I have known Raki for not even a month now."

"Is that so?" asked Sid, before turning his attention back to Raki. "But Raki," he asked, "why are you back? You know we would have told Clare how to find you, if she came here."

"Remember my friend's daughter?" Raki asked. "We were separated after a run in with some Yoma. I thought she might try and find me by going to places we've been, and I wanted to start here first."

Sid narrowed his eyes. "I haven't kept an eye out for her," he admitted, "but a group of orphans was found and is due to arrive today. They should be arriving at the Church about now; why don't you try there? Father Vincent would be more than happy to see you again," he said.

Raki nodded. "Thank you, Sid. I'll do that immediately." He turned and bent to Miata's height. "Miata, I have to hurry and go somewhere right now."

Miata's eyes widened. "Papa's leaving?" she asked, sounding both shocked and alarmed.

Raki shook his head. "I'll be back, Miata. But I have to find someone, and I've already taken longer than I should have. It shouldn't be long, and you and Mama have your own mission."

Miata shook her head. "Don't wanna. Don't want to lose you for anyone, Papa."

Raki laughed and tapped her forehead. "Don't worry. Be a good girl, Miata. You'll be a good girl for me, right?" he asked, and she reluctantly nodded.

"Alright then," he said, standing. "Thank you," he nodded to Sid and Galk, and then gave another nod to Clarice before hurrying out the door. They watched him leave, and heard the pounding of footsteps as he ran down the street.

"I can sympathize with him, sure," admitted Sid, "but why is he in such a hurry? And if he is, shouldn't he have left his sword here then?"

---


	31. That Woman

---

Clarice's own explanation for their reason for being there took only a short time. The revelation of a possible yoma in the city worried her, but that was something that could easily be taken care of once they were off the yokai-suppresents. But to do that, they would need to find her target…

"Blind, you say?" asked Galk, leaning against a sturdy support beam. His eyes were closed in deep thought, and he looked uneasy.

"Yes," nodded Clarice. "Our eyes are naturally silver, unless we take special medicine. Since I doubt she had access to years of it when she fled, it's most likely that she has played blind. Even so, she remains very dangerous, and could cause a great deal of damage. Anyone who might be a threat to her freedom will be at risk."

"To think one of you snuck past us by playing blind," mused Sid. "We really have been too lax of late. Yes, I do know of one woman like that who came here in the last several years…" Sid began.

Before he could say anything more, though, Galk's eyes snapped open and the blood rushed from his face. "Sid!" he yelled. "That woman!"

"Huh?" Sid said, and then caught on. "Shit! That idiot!" he snapped, scrambling from behind his desk. "You two, go, quick! You can get there before we can!" he commanded the two Claymores.

"Huh?" stumbled Clarice, taken aback by their sudden frenzy of movement.

"Go, to the Church! Raki may be in danger!"

Clarice was no more enlightened, but far more on guard and already heading out the door. Beside her, Miata's battle sense began to kick in.

"That woman, she's hiding as a Sister who watches over the orphans! Raki may already be there now!"

---


	32. Faster Faster, First Stop Disaster

---

'No matter how skilled, no human can match even the weakest claymore in terms of strength, speed, or endurance.'

Clarice had never been one to flaunt her own abilities as a Claymore to the general public, knowing just how feeble her own skills were compared to every other warrior, but even so that lesson from training held true. Raki, for all his skill and being in admirable shape, was still only on par with her, at best. Her, the weakest of all Claymores alive. And their target was once in the Top Five of the Organization, magnitudes beyond her.

'Traitors to the organization have no future. Theirs is a fate that includes only fleeing and hiding for their very existence, and a final, desperate battle for survival.'

But even so, she put every bit of power she could into her legs, hoping against hope that she would come across him before she reached the ever-looming Cathedral. Perhaps he had been winded by the weight of his sword, perhaps he had decided to walk. Maybe a blessedly ignorant officer had stopped the running man with a sword on his back…

'They are cornered beasts, they know that, and they are the stronger for it. They will lash out at anyone and everyone around them, just in hopes of staying alive that much longer.'

That would be a case of good luck, of course. Clarice hoped that was the wind she heard, and not the sound of clashing metal…

'Traitors are the most dangerous of all enemies. They combine a yoma's powers, a Claymore's mind, and a will to live that won't shrink from slaying entire villages of humans in order to live.'

Clarice and Miata rushed through the open doors in time to see Raki fall to his knees, sword in his hand, body protectively covering a young girl. And behind him stood Galatea, arm raised with the weapon that granted her title as Claymore. The sword began to fall, ready to decapitate them both.

---


	33. Good Girl

---

It never hit. Miata, bolting forward with inhuman speed, almost blindsided Galatea. Almost: the former elite was able to change the trajectory of her strike, and the two barreled through the Cathedral before Galtea escaped to the street, and from there to the roofs. Miata pursued with an unthinking ferocity.

Clarice would have followed, but hesitated at Raki's frame. He looked safe, but…

"Are you alright?" she asked, cautiously putting a hand on his good shoulder. His other shoulder was red, though whether that was from the color of the sleeve, a slash, or Raki's prior wound opening up again…

But he didn't answer her. He was still embracing the young girl. Or rather, she was embracing him, arms trembling, and he was trying to calm her. "It's alright," he soothed. "I'm safe," he said, but loud enough that Clarice would also hear.

"Raki," the young girl said, squeezing his shirt in her tiny hands. "She was bullying you, wasn't she?"

"It's alright," he assured her. "She was mistaken, that's all."

"She shouldn't bully Raki," the girl said again, and made as if to move to follow the Organization's past and present elites.

Raki turned his head to look at Clarice. "This might take awhile," he said. "You should follow Miata and make sure she doesn't get in over her head. Your friend has sharp senses," he warned, though how he of all people could notice that about God Eyed Galatea slipped Clarice's notice.

Clarice remembered her own yokai-suppressed senses, and nodded. "Stay where it's safe!" she called, hurrying after the quickly-moving Claymores.

But Raki had his hands full with his charge, and did not respond. "Relax," he said to the girl. "I'm safe."

He looked at her, and even from her peripheral vision Clarice could see his relief.

"I'm just glad to see that you've been a good girl, Priscilla..."

---


	34. Distraction

---

Clarice followed the sounds of battle. They thundered across rooftops, and Clarice was openly relieved to note that the Rabona Guard was ushering civilians off of the streets below. She could barely keep up with their exchange of blows: it would be impossible for her to participate.

But she could try to distract.

"Why were you about to kill the humans?" she yelled at Galatea. "They had nothing to do with our hunt for you! Have you no pride left, traitor?!"

Galatea turned her head, as if trying to locate her. "Could you not feel it?" asked the elegant turncoat, still poised and in control even in her ripped dress and while fighting for her life. "Could you not sense the danger brought into this city? That power is an abomination, and those who knowingly tolerate it even worse!" Galatea exclaimed, spewing nonsense.

"Liar! He's just a human!" Clarice yelled, hoping that somehow Miata would find an opening…

"Is he?" asked Galatea cryptically. "Can you not even detect the energies that cling to him just by association? Do you have any idea what he is keeping close to his heart? How much do you really know about him, really?" Galatea challenged, as if _she_ knew more about Raki than Clarice did.

Clarice growled, but behind her something in the city _roared_.

---


	35. If you knew him at all

---

Galatea all but ran to the source, only bothering to dodge and parry Miata's strikes. But when they reached the source, it was Clarice who was stunned into immobility. A massive Awakened Being, larger than any other she had ever seen, towered over the streets. It radiated power and dominance, each leg of its massive frame easily capable of killing every human that might be on the street.

But the Rabona Guard was attempting a valiant resistance. Another group of spearmen launched their weapons, hoping that just one would do the damage required. None did, and they couldn't even achieve their true goal; Sid was restrained, just feet from a giving the bloody woman a haircut six inches below the ears.

Galatea dodged through the crowd, using the human soldiers to delay Miata. With those precious seconds she freed the man and jumped to the ground with him, but nothing would stop Miata, who was pursuing the traitor with a zeal remarkable even for her. It was the same rage that Miata had used to slaughter those yoma that had threatened to overwhelm Clarice and Raki. It was the rage at those who threatened to harm her family.

But the soldiers beside her cared nothing about that. Galk turned to Clarice. "What are you doing!?" He demanded of her through the sudden downpour. "Aren't you going to help us slay that thing? Can't your own petty house-cleaning wait until after that?"

Clarice panted, partly overwhelmed by the presence of the massive awakened and partly surprised by the large man's vehemence. "I… I just…" she began.

"We came here on orders to purge Galatea!" she said, defending herself. "That is our priority! And besides…" she trailed off, unsure of how much it even mattered in the Organization's view. "She… Raki…"

"The lives of the city are more important than who killed who!" yelled Galk, misunderstanding. "Raki would understand! If you knew him at all, you would know that already!"

---


	36. The Miracle of Rabona

---

Everything around her was falling into ruin: Miata's bloody frame called for her, after she had ordered the girl to stop upon seeing her injuries. Galatea had but one arm remaining, and was doing her best to repair her pieced kneecap that had immobilized her. But their fragile truce meant little in face of Blood-red Agatha's might.

"This attack won't work!" Clarice pleaded, trying to make the soldiers around her see reason. "You already tried it, and it failed! You have no hope of survival!"

Galk gave her the same look he had had earlier. "Didn't I tell you? We will do everything we can. This is our only option to save the people of this city. If you assist us like your traitor, we might even succeed" he said, but his tone made clear he didn't expect any such help.

Another soldier approached. "The men are in their positions, sir!" he said, and Galk turned away from Clarice.

"Three!" he called, his voice clear over the pouring rain. "Two!" Dozens of men tensed. "One!" Eyes narrowed, judgments and corrections made. "Fire!" he yelled, and the spears flew.

But Agatha caught them all with ease. "Don't you see I'm not in the mood to play with you now?" she called. "Please, allow me to return them" she taunted, just before the first short sword pricked her neck.

"No!" yelled Galatea in fear, interrupting any cheering at the sight of the disembodied head. "That's the wrong target! Run!" she screamed, even as she frantically put more energy into regenerating her ruined knee. Sid cursed, seeing the fate of his men race before his eyes. Clarice paled at the immanent sight of men butchered in front of her.

"Got you!" taunted Agatha's disembodied head, even as Raki's broad sword cut into her hair's connection to the monstrous base with a mighty swing.

---


	37. CounterStrike

Apologies for the previous problem. FFN is a bit... bothersome... when accepting copy and paste.

---

The pitter-patter of the rain was the only noise that could be heard. It was questionable if there was anything else to be heard; Clarice saw no one breath, no one so much as blink as Agatha's head and hair collapse onto the monstrous platform. That structure itself, disconnected from its master, lost support and collapsed, tossing its occupants onto the ground beside it.

"Did… we win?" asked Sid from behind them, cradling his broken arm. Around him, men began to cheer.

That was what broke Galatea out of her own shock at the turn of events. "No, it's not over! Her head is intact, and still has hair! Destroy the head!" she yelled to the dazed swordsman beside Agatha's remains.

But it was too late. Though the head had been separated from the body, and the hair from the base, the hair that remained granted at least a fraction of Agatha's yoma reserves. Tendrils of hair darted out, spearing the helpless guardsmen around her even as some of those strands brought her human-shaped body close enough to be reattached to her head.

---


	38. Rally

Apologies for the previous problem. FFN is a bit... bothersome... when accepting copy and paste.

---

"You bastard!" the former Number 2's head hissed at Raki as she rejoined herself to her neck and regained what power had been stored in that body. "That was far too close! Die, you stupid human!" she snarled, hairs spearing at him and towards her previous platform.

Raki said nothing, face stern and focused as he sliced away as many of those hairs that approached her former form as he could, even at the cost of more and more slicing into his own body. But Galatea saw what was at stake.

"Hurry!" she called on anyone and everyone, human and Claymore alike, to move. "Destroy her now, while she is still weakened! If she reconnects to her main body, it will be all over!" Rallying to her own call, she leaped towards the scene despite having only one arm, and the wounded knee still being only partially healed.

Guardsmen charged, yelling, as Galk led them forward, but Clarice was still dazed by the sudden happenings. Miata, too, was stunned, but fought against her own injuries to move forward, and only then was Clarice able to follow them all, humans and Claymores, patriots and traitors, trying to seize the miracle that had been given to them.

But move as they did, they could only watch and redouble their efforts as Raki was speared by Blood Red Agatha, lifted into the air, and slammed into the ground with a resounding and final crack.

---


	39. Dream

---

Clarice dreamed of that battle for years to come. It was a dream that focused her thoughts and perceptions of that desperate fight, even though some errors were obvious after she awoke. But it was a dream that never became less vivid.

In her dream, Raki died. There was no describing the emotions that came forth inside her, even though the results elsewhere were clear. Miata, infantile but mighty Miata, screamed and cried, raging at Agatha with all her power. Entire sections of Agatha's former body were destroyed as mere collateral to that power, and Miata was the ultimate source of most of the damage inflicted on the former Number 2. Agatha never had a chance to truly regain her strength by reconnecting to her body in mass, because Miata never let Papa's killer have a single free breath. Not even Galatea had been faced with such ferocity, even though Miata's body was nearly falling apart from her earlier wounds.

In her dream, Galatea was epitome of what any Claymore aimed to be. She fought on past her own ruined body, asking for no respite and giving even less. Taking into consideration her own abilities and those of her allies, she directed the battle with no aim but victory in mind. Even her own body was offered up for victory, slicing off her own ruined leg when it served as a hindrance. Many men were saved by her, and many more owed precious seconds of their lives to her quick thinking. Galatea sought to kill the yoma and save as many as she could, regardless of the cost to herself.

The humans, the knights of Rabona, also played their part. Though they could be stunned at the slightest blow from Blood Red Agatha, decapitated merely with a flick of her hair, they came and fought until the last man fell, until victory. Those with armor and shields took blows for those without, those with swords struck at her, hacking any part of Agatha they could reach into useless oblivion. Soldiers sacrificed themselves for their comrades survival, guarding the monstrous remains from Agatha's hair with their blades and even their own bodies.

Even Clarice herself had her role in toppling the Awakened. She cut hair, parried blows that would have killed others. She even saved Miata from that blood-hungry hair, after Miata had risked herself on Clarice's account. It had almost cost her life, but she could accept it, just as she could Miata. Though she would fall in every dream just as she had in the battle, she never did so with any shame as Number 47.

---


	40. Nightmare

For the record, all of this story was written entirely in advance. Reviewer suggestions had nothing to do with the course of this or any other chapter.

---

Clarice also dreamed of the end of that blood bath, though it was something she never remembered after waking.

In her dream, the bodies and remains of every fighter lay around her. Though blood painted the streets, many were not truly dead. Some were maimed but stable, others passed out from their injuries and blood loss. There, against the monstrous body, lay Galk, cut tendrils of hair still piercing his breathing chest.

No one was left standing. Two-limbed Galatea lay in the pavement, six inches below the street, where Agatha had last pounded her into the earth. Clarice's barely-recovering yoma senses saw that the defensive type was alive, would live.

Beneath Clarice lay Miata, protected by Clarice's own flesh. She breathed freely, but her energy had long since been wasted. Near them lay Raki, worryingly still beneath his blood-stained cloak. Clarice was in no position to see if he lived or not.

The one thing left moving was Blood-Red Agatha, who Clarice could only see if she twisted her neck as far as possible. Agatha was only a torso now; her hair had been ripped and cut off, her legs demolished, her right arm ripped from its socket by Miata.

"Damn!" hissed the Awakened. "You bastards will pay!" she raged as she dragged herself with her one arm towards what remained of her massive body, and her former power.

"When I restore my body, you will all die! I will make a lake out of the blood of your entire city!" she promised as she dragged herself closer to total victory.

Before she could reach it, though, footsteps walked in front of her. Clarice could only see the bottom of small legs at the edge of her vision. Agatha must have been able to see the girl, because she said "get out of the way, child, and you alone I will spare."

"You weren't nice to Raki," said the girl, a familiar voice Clarice was too tired to place. "You hurt him."

Agatha snorted. "What of it, brat? Move, I will kill you now."

"You shouldn't bully others," said the girl.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," said Agatha before summoning the power for another attack. But Agatha gasped, and the girl took a step forward.

"No one should hurt Raki."

"Stay back!" yelled Agatha, but there was a sudden blast of power, and darkness engulfed Clarice as Agatha screamed…

---


	41. Kid

---

Clarice awoke far too slowly for a Claymore who had fallen in battle.

There were reasons she could use to explain why, of course. The fact that she was in a warm bed rather than on street cobbles told her that she the battle was over, and that whoever had moved her had her comfort in mind. The presence of bandages reinforced the idea that whoever had found her was unlikely to want to harm her, and the presence of soft clothes suggested that someone had taken care of her, and likely cleaned her. That alone would normally have made her start with alarm and embarrassment, especially considering the company she had kept of late, but there was another fact that had to be considered.

The bed was just too comfortable, the clothes too soft, and the covers too warm. With the aches and pains in her body, she just wanted to turn over and go back to wonderful sleep, back to better dreams of the recent past. Even without the now-expected presence of Raki's stitches trailing down her body in her normal suit, she still felt warm and secure in the bed.

"Awake at last, I see?" asked pitiless Galatea, though it really wasn't a question. "So nice of you to join us at last."

Clarice grunted and pushed herself out of the bed. Or tried to; the bed was so soft that she had no resistance to push against. Galatea must have been smiling from the sounds of Clarice's silly struggle to escape such comfort, because she surely couldn't have seen it.

"How long have I been asleep?" asked Clarice.

"A week," answered Galatea. "We weren't sure if you would survive."

"What?!" yelped Clarice, immediately checking herself for signs of catastrophic wounds that she didn't remember receiving.

"I kid," Galatea stated. "You've been out for the better part of three days, from severe yokai exhaustion." Clarice's heart rate began to slow, and Galatea turned. "Come," she said. "There is much to discuss."

---


	42. Thief

You know what I don't get? People who put a story on an update-alert but not on their favorites list, and don't even review.

Especially when the story is explicitly listed as "updated daily until finished," and has already been entirely written. What's the point?

---

They walked through the halls in silence. Galatea, blind as she was, walked with an assurance and familiarity that were undeniable. Clarice followed, uneasy in the presence of the one she had so recently been tracking to kill, one who had tried to strike Raki down. But though Galatea could surely feel such fluctuations in Clarice's energy, she said nothing of it.

"We are here," she said, stopping in front of a door indistinguishable from all the others. She opened the door and stepped inside, leaving it open for Clarice to follow. Clarice did, and then stopped.

It was not that in that room sat Raki, alive, arm in a sling. She did gasp in (pleasant would not do the feeling justice) surprise, and he turned and gave her a charming smile that set her heart beating in more than just relief, but in another time she would have immediately rushed to check on his injuries, asking on his health.

It wasn't that Sid, also with a sling, was laughing like a loon, and that even Galk was chucking. From Sid she could expect such behavior, even though she had only recently met the man.

It was the nature of the two girls on Raki's knees. Both were clinging to the young man and pulling him in separate directions, trying to monopolize his one free arm. Miata on the right, the brown-haired girl Raki had called Priscilla on the left. Both glared at each other and tugged on him, and though there was no hint of violent intent between them, they both refused to let go of his loose shirt.

Miata looked towards the opened door and saw Clarice.

"Mama!" she cried, not loosening her hold on Raki one iota. "She's trying to steal Papa!"

"Raki's mine!" the other girl cried back, tugging even harder.

Both girls tumbled onto the ground in surprise when the shirt ripped in two.

---


	43. Offering

I'm always thankful for criticisms, including embarrassingly basic grammar mistakes. My only pathetic excuse is that "Raki" shows up as a misspelled word anyways, so the red-underline of MS word tends to get ignored whenever I see it under Raki. Still my fault, though.

Two brief answers to two questions...

The whereabouts of the Ghosts of the North (and why they didn't show up during the battle) has already been subtly addressed, a couple of times, in previous chapters. Those curious might want to reread. Points to whoever realizes what happened.

Why drabble-sized chapters? Experimentation and control. It was a style I wanted to experiment with (success, and likely will do it again), keeping chapters short and manageable allows me to cover more plot and not get bogged down in useless descriptions and narrative that bore me and would needlessly inflate the story, and short installments help keep forced pacing, shorter arcs don't get overly dominated by longer ones.

Enough chit-chat.

---

A tenuous peace was eventually established through the oldest compromise: sharing. Once the children pacified and a (yet another, Raki groused) shirt was found for Raki, the adults turned to more serious matters.

"We are in your debt," said Sid with little flourish. "All of you. Without all of your help, either that yoma would have remained hidden, picking off one human at a time, or that battle would have gutted the entire city."

"What do you intend to do?" asked Galk, asking the question that everyone danced around. "We know nothing about the inner workings of you Claymores, nor do we care except so much as it affects our city. But at the same time, we owe you both for what you have done for us."

Preoccupied as she was with Priscilla and the quite war over Raki, Miata paid no attention to the discussion, or even to her initial target. At some point, Clarice realized, Raki had been given the same type of trust as Clarice by Miata, had been assigned the same precious position as parent. Raki had likely told the young girl to not attack Galatea, and so she hadn't. Raki might even be able to bid Miata to stop even if Clarice ordered her to attack, and she did not want to see what would happen then.

Raki's silence only made setting more unsettling. He said nothing, only watching her and the others. He offered no clue as to what he was thinking, no hint of his intention. It hadn't been a secret that he had always intended to go his own way when the time came: the three of them had traveled together because they were going in the same direction, but now that he had found the missing child and she and Miata had found Galatea…

There was the mission. There was always the mission: Claymores lived and died to accomplish it. Giving up was not an option: failing to carry out the mission would mark both herself and Miata as traitors.

But then there was the battle, and Clarice remembered. Clarice remembered how graceful Galatea had been, how she had embodied everything Claymores strived for. Saving every life possible, human and Claymore. Courage and determination. Strength and ability. And even, Clarice had seen and heard from Galatea's conversation with Agatha, a loving and protecting soul. Everything, in short, that Clarice valued and wanted to be.

Her fists clenched. Her teeth grit. No words sprung to mind. But Galatea spoke for her.

"I'm sorry about before," said God Eyed Galatea to her. "But since I've done what I set out to do… my life is yours to take. I will not resist, will not risk this city and its people to any more violence."

---


	44. Too Kind

A special nod to Shiek for pointing out some typos and a few botched phrases. Those have been fixed, and quality has improved. One of the tools I've used is deliberate sentence fragments, which while effective are also much harder to catch when you mess up. However, a few lines he/she brings up, while admittedly awkward, are correct as are and were not changed. See, for example, Raki's come from nowhere appearance in "The Miracle of Rabona." That's part of why it was a miracle; salvation that came out of nowhere. Had he hailed his entry to the battlefield, the effect would have been lost.

---

"Damn you," cursed Clarice, face scrunched in anger and guilt, trying to maintain composure. "Why did you have to say that? How can I kill you after that? Can't you be at least more terrible?"

Galatea said nothing, and the others watched on as well. Miata slid a hand on Clarice's sleeve, trying to support her.

"Orders from the Organization should be followed," she said, "and the one I'm supposed to kill is right in front of me." She looked up and straight at Galatea, emotion clouding her face. "But how can I kill you? After seeing you put everything on the line to save the people of the city? After saving us all, and then offering yourself up like this?"

Galatea stood up, and slowly walked towards Clarice. Bending down, she wrapped the younger Claymore in a strong embrace.

"You are too kind," said the traitor, saying what many of her other sisters had told Clarice in the past. But she was the first Claymore and only the second person to not make it into an insult, a declaration of weakness. The first was sitting across from her, watching. "I truly wish more of uswere like you."

"What should I do?" asked Clarice, looking for guidance, anything.

---


	45. Counsel

---

"Hide that kind heart of yours, and remember what will happen to both yourselves and this city if you don't," counseled Galatea. "If you don't, if you disobey, you will have to go into hiding. And if you go into hiding with me, or even if the Organization just realizes that you left me in Rabona, then they will think nothing of ripping Rabona apart to find both myself and you. They will send even stronger warriors, warriors not even myself or your child can stand up to."

Clarice was not the only one to gasp; Sid and Galk looked on with alarm. Even Raki's eyes widened.

"It is true," confirmed Galatea. "There are those who far surpass all of us in this room, combined. The catastrophe would be indescribable. So remember that. I have years of experience in suppressing my yoma energy so that others won't see it; you and the child would stand out like fires in the darkness. Remember not only my fate, but the fates of every person in this room and in this city should the Organization sense your presence in this city along with me."

The older woman leaned back, and let off a soft chuckle. "How strange it sounds," she mused aloud, "to counsel another to kill me for the sake of humans. I really have fallen low, haven't I?

Clarice only gripped her fists harder. She remembered the black card hidden in her own sword hilt, the final request and trust every true Claymore hoped to ask of her friends. "That's…" she tried to say, tried to disagree.

"Why don't we just leave?" asked Raki, speaking for the first time.

---


	46. What Only The Weak Can Do

---

Everyone in the room looked at him with such speed that the normally unshakable swordsman started.

"Really, why don't we just leave Rabona?" Raki repeated. "Clarice, Miata, Priscilla and I. Why don't we simply leave, and say we never found you?" he asked, nodding at Galatea.

Before the surprised Claymores could speak, Galk did.

"He has a point," the large man agreed. "The battle was chaotic. The yoma was far too dangerous and powerful to be handled alone, and there was the risk of your target simply fleeing if the chaos. So you made a temporary truce, and fought the yoma. Anyone witness in town who was asked would testify that you had sought to kill her, even in the beginning of the fight."

Sid continued the thoughts of the other two humans. "Just say that you two were knocked out during the fight, and that when you awoke you didn't see any trace of the Sister here. It's true, isn't it? You were knocked out for over two days, a fact anyone will testify to. That's more than enough time for any criminal to make a run for it, and everyone knows of Rabona's prejudice against Claymores. Even if grateful for your rescue, could your superiors blame you if we ejected you so quickly? Clearly we would have done the same for your target once we learned she was a Claymore, so you would just be going back to searching for her in the wilderness, as you did before you came here" he concluded, smiling and putting his healthy hand on Galatea's shoulder.

"You…" whispered Galatea, stunned by simple kindness and generosity of the humans.

"We told you," said Galk. "We owe you. All of you. We may not have your strength, but there are still things we can do."

---


	47. Persuasion

---

The conversation continued after that. Father Vincent, who entered a bit later, agreed to the general proposal, and promised that the other Church leaders would also agree. But Clarice was deep in thought. Even if it was only a delay, even if one day in the future Clarice and Miata would be instructed to search Rabona once again, it was a possibility nonetheless. Perhaps circumstances would change, if they did this. The hunt called off, a more pressing yoma threat. A different, more despicable traitor. Anything.

"By hiding me, you may be putting the city in danger," said Galatea, trying to emphasize the size of the burden these humans were risking.

Father Vincent answered. "Only a handful know of your true nature in the first place, and we've already asked the Father Mor to remain silent on your nature. Fewer need to know about your continued stay."

"No other witnesses outside of this room knows your face to be that of the Claymore who was hiding in this city," said Galk. "Those who saw you in battle won't recognize you as long as don't tear up your clothes and wield your Claymore again, and your face was never clear in the first place. So long as you look modest and gentle your secret will be safe, unless someone who knows you personally sees you and spreads the word."

Galatea said nothing. Raki tried his own attempt at convincing her.

"The city was already in danger," he reminded her. "Yoma and Awakened can sneak into even this city, and do so regardless of you. If you stay, though, the city will have the best protection from yoma possible. And not only would you be protecting the city, but you would be removing any potential reason for the Organization to send another Claymore here, one who might stumble across you."

Galatea looked forward, considering the option. Clarice did as well, but her mind kept drifting back to the Mission.

---


	48. He Poses The Question

---

Raki sighed and stood up. "I can't force you, either of you, to choose this," he said, looking at Clarice as well. "Regardless of what you choose, though, I intend to leave this city tomorrow morning at the latest."

Sid gaped, and said what the others must have, were, thinking. "But your arm is still injured! You won't be able to swing your sword for weeks, if not a month! You wouldn't be able to protect yourself, and trouble finds you every other day!"

Raki laughed and shrugged. "I know," he said with a faint smile, "but I want to get out of Rabona soon." Clarice did not notice Galatea glance to the young girl at Raki's side. "Priscilla and I still have to find Clare, after all," Raki said with his typical aplomb. Galatea looked at him with an unreadable expression, Sid looked annoyed, and Clarice was in no position to speak.

Galk broke the tension with a chuckle. "That sounds like you," he said. "Fine. Stay the night, and we will see you off tomorrow."

"And I as well," Galatea consented. "I will see you off, and remain to protect this city." She looked to Clarice. "That is…?"

"It's your choice, Clarice. What do you say?" asked Raki, smiling as if he already knew her answer when she didn't.

"Would you and Miata leave, and come with me?"

---


	49. Fin

The final decision of this tale, posted this Christmas Eve. Until next week, Merry Christmas.

---

Miata looks at Clarice, eyes distraught at the choice but filled with unconditional trust, and Clarice knows that Miata will follow her regardless. Even more than Papa, Miata trusts her absolutely. It is now a choice, her choice, between what she feels is just and what the Organization had ordered.

One choice is to leave with Raki, to maintain this farce to the Organization. Raki and Rabona would be safe only as long as the Organization did not suspect, and they could travel as they had: not quite family, but closer than strangers. The potential for catastrophe would be enormous: should the Organization discover their deception, all their lives would be forfeit. And even if their secret is not discovered, should they find the subject of Raki's search the catastrophe would be no less real, if only on a personal level.

The other choice is to uphold the law of the Organization, the long established protectors of humans. The price for the power to kill and protect is obedience, without exception. Galatea is a traitor, one who left at the most desperate of times, and killing her now would ensure the safety of the city of Rabona, and of Raki. She and Miata would return to the Organization, separate from the young man who distracted them from their sworn duty, and like all Claymores would carry on the endless fight against the yoma until they die.

One path is for her heart's desire, and the perilous hope for something more. The other is the way of the warrior, sworn to both protect and be true to their creators.

'I know Claymores,' Raki had once told her. 'When a Claymore acts like that, it means that her heart is fighting against her mind.'

'But,' he had asked her, 'what does your heart want?'

Clarice places a hand on Miata's shoulder, looks at Raki, and smiles, taking his outstretched hand.

_Fin_

---


	50. Epilogue Arc: A Week's Difference

The story is over, but there were a few things I wanted to write and put in but that didn't fit with the Clarice-centered narrative. So I wrote extra material, to be posted after the finish. Since I'm technically done already, there is no reason for me to write to much more beyond what I have already, but there are a few spots I might write. (Hint: "You are the greater scandal" + Raki = ...)

Feel free to ask for anything you want added/clarified; I won't promise to do any of it (and I might have already), but if I have motivation... why not? My next project will take awhile, but .

But now for what everyone was looking forward to: the Ghosts.

---

It was ironic, but hardly surprising, that the soldier's tavern was one of the first buildings rebuilt. The tavern is one of the most proven sources of income in the city, and a place of welcome respite for the honorable Guard to relax out of the public's view. It was also a place that the Guardsmen could make fools of themselves out of the public's view, which was also a pleasant diversion.

With the day watch on patrol, it was mostly empty. Only a few guests brought in by the Captains of the Guard were drinking, marveling amongst themselves at the still-apparent results of the battle. A Sister, Galatea, told them of the Miracle of Rabona, as that day was now called. Their leader was in negotiations with the Church leadership, her own revelations still in the minds of them all.

Claymore 47, this one simply Clare, set down her cup meaningfully and looked at Sid and Galk, their hosts."Actually, there is something I would like to ask you two," she started. "It's why I originally insisted we come to this city."

"Is it about Raki?" asked Sid, gesturing with his cup. "The brat you had with you at the time?"

Clare's eyes widened, anticipation coursing through her veins. "How do you…" she began before switching over to "Are you telling me…?"

"Well, he just stopped by," said Sid. "You missed him by just about a week now" he teased, and while Clare's face was unchanged her heart raced at how close she had come to their reunion. But Clare also knew Raki, and her instincts flared. She looked outside, where workers were still repairing the Rabona roofs and streets.

Sid chuckled, seeing what she was about to ask with dread. "Yeah, he was here then. Saved the entire city, him and the Claymores he arrived with."

---


	51. EA: Gratitude And Something Else

It was asked if I take requests: I do. You can make all the requests you want. I just don't promise to do them.

---

"You need to learn tact," Galk admonished as Sid laughed at Clare's expression. Sid merely made a face at his larger friend.

"Raki suddenly showed up out of the blue a week and a half ago, along with two young women claiming to be his wife and child," Galk explained to Clare.

"They weren't literally, of course," Sid said (warned?) upon seeing her react once again, "but they were both pretty attached to him. They didn't go into too much detail as to how they met, and we didn't press. Still, he's doing well. He got injured during the battle, but nothing that won't heal soon enough."

"The two Claymores were protective of him, so he's probably the safest man in the world right now" Galk reassured, and Clare felt gratitude towards the other two Claymores.

"I don't blame them," Sid said, this time definitely with a teasing tone. "He's gotten pretty freakin' huge and buff. And good looking, though I'll deny I ever said that if you tell him. If I were a woman, I wouldn't let him out of arm's reach either."

And if Clare felt something else towards them, would anyone blame her?

---


	52. EA: Implications of Seven Years

---

"He showed up out of nowhere and he asked about you, same as about a year ago," Galk said, and Clare's heart warmed to hear that Raki had been looking for even as she and her fellow ghosts had been hiding the barren North.

"I see… So are alive after all, Raki…" she whispered, relieved. Behind her, her friends and allies who were listening were also surprised.

"He had a little kid tagging along that time," Sid said, serious. "Just like you at the time," and Clare listened on in surprise.

"That was why he came back to Rabona recently," Sid continued. "He'd been separated from her. He said that the child wasn't his when I asked, saying it was just a friend's daughter, but…" he trailed, showing his skepticism. "It was clear that wasn't the whole truth, but he didn't look to want to talk about it and I didn't press then. As for when he arrived a week and a half ago, we didn't have much time. After he found the girl and had a few days rest after the battle, he, she, and the Claymores left."

"Claymores and a little girl," Clare whispered, hesitant at the possibilities as she heard the implications of something left unsaid. She glanced towards Galatea, and resolved to find out what hadn't been said.

"Well, it's been seven years since you came here," Galk said. "He's a real, grown man now. Things happen, you know." He sipped from his cup, giving her time to let it sink in.

---


	53. EA: Departure

---

"In any case," Galk had concluded, "he said he was going to back-track the route you two had traveled with you, and his Claymore companions intend to accompany him wherever he goes. It's… complicated," he had said upon seeing Clare's face flash alert and surprised at the first concrete hint of Raki's location she had received in seven years.

"We didn't ask where they were headed, but they took off north and west of here, if that means anything to you." Raki's home town was a week and a half that way.

"Both of you are alive, and have allies to help and keep you alive."

"You will definitely meet again."

That had been yesterday. Clare stands at the North Western Gate, sun rising behind her.

"You'll want to move fast to catch up to them, right Clare?" asks Uma from her right. "We can keep up."

"But will you be ready for what you'll find?" asks Cynthia, trailing from her right and voicing Clare's own darkest fears. "We don't know how those two Claymores will react, or how he will if we have to engage them. And the matter of the young girl…" she trails off.

Priscilla. Not even Miria knows about her yet, though Galatea will surely tell her once she realizes that Clare had not passed on their conversation. Cynthia voices Clare's fears, but Clare has lived through terrors come true before. What is more important is what is ahead of her, who is ahead of her.

She says nothing. Neither companion expected her to.

They run.

---


	54. EA: Just How Close

Nope. No sequel planned. As I said earlier, we already reached the end of the story: the epilogue was just that. A short epilogue. This is what really happened.

And, yes, I admit I need a beta reader. There isn't too much left, but next project will surely see me ask for one.

Edit: And yes, this is why I need a Beta reader. Thinking there were Nine, rather than Seven, Ghosts and not bothering to go back and count. That is _exactly_ what a Beta reader should be able to catch.

---

Four days travel west and north of Rabona, there is a small hamlet with an inn. Its only reason for existing is to serve as a stop for pilgrims and traders to and from the city. In this direction, however, to the long-dead region of the North, barely any traffic comes. Back before Pieta had died, traders and travelers of all reputations had stopped, and the hamlet had been viable, and houses of rest and pleasure had been available for the proper coin.

Now, however, there is only one inn, and it is lucky to have a half-dozen customers a night. That is probably why the inn keeper is so happy to house seven mysterious guests, and so willing to overlook their strange habit of wearing their rain cloaks inside. He has seen his share of nuns and covenants: he must know that they really aren't a group of sisters who have vowed not to show their faces in public. But their coin is good and their requests meager, and so the owner is happy to give them what little they ask for.

Not that any of them care what he thinks: they would be just as capable of staying outside. But being able to stoically tolerate the rain didn't mean enjoying to, and so no one had objected to the suggestion of staying at the nearest inn after a long day's journey. Besides them, the inn was empty besides a man and a woman, spouses, in mourning black coming from a funeral in Rabona. They approached no one, and no one approached them, content to leave them in the privacy of their grief.

Just as the first of them is about to leave for her room, doubtless hoping that the sooner she falls asleep the sooner the next day would come, the door to the inn opens. The sound of rain pouring quiets what little chatter among them there was, and all cast an eye at the figures who walk in. It is a small, wet, and surely tired family; all four are wearing cloaks as complete as the Seven's.

It's clear from the broad sword and the even broader shoulders that are hidden under the cloak that the father is the most threatening protector. But a more careful look shows that he is favoring one arm over the other, and that he likely couldn't use his weapon if his life depended on it. By his side are two smaller figures; the smallest cloak has a small girl's hand gripping his, while on his other side a small and thin figure is standing far too close to the father to be threatening to anyone. That boy, judging by the sword, is nothing more than a tall child, regardless of the size of his weapon. Even a cursory scan for radiant yoma energies would see nothing from them.

Stepping forward to the innkeeper is a young and attractive woman. The only one to lower her hood, everyone can see her reassuringly natural brown hair and blue eyes, and her face is young and attractive. "I'd like a room with two beds, please," she asks the innkeeper, and her voice is soft despite the sword that she, too, has strapped to her back under the concealment of her cloak.

"Certainly," the man says. "That will be…" he trails, pretending to think. Even though he has seen more guests tonight than in some weeks, that is no reason not to make money off of them.

"Will this be enough to cover a light dinner and breakfast sent to our room?" she asks, holding up two golden sticks that glimmered in the Inn Keeper's eyes.

"Of course," he says, eagerly taking the sticks. Before he can hand the keys, though, the man is racked by coughs, nearly bending double inside his cloak even as the thin son carefully supports him.

"Is your husband sick?" asks the Inn Keeper. "Madame Meg is the local apothecary, I can have someone run over and get her..." he offers. Greedy as he is, he is also compassionate for the health of his guests.

The young woman startled slightly at his first words, but shook her head. "No," she said. "He was injured recently, and the rain hasn't done him any favors. A good dry night's sleep should help him," she said, though she too looks slightly concerned.

"I'll have a few towels and a spare tunic sent up to your room," decided the Inn Keeper. "Here's your key; it will be the last room at the end of the hall; that one is connected to the fireplace, which should warm it up a bit." The Seven, on the other hand, had taken the first rooms at the hall, so as to leave with less commotion early the next day.

The brown-haired woman would never know about that. "Thank you," she said sincerely, and gladly took the key. Without any further word, or even a glance to the other guests, she hurried to the man and took the opposite side as her child. Though the man tried to wave her off, she batted the hand away and gently took his shoulder, and together she and taller child helped the cloaked man up the stairs.

After the family vanished from sight and the sound of their door opening and closing echoed downstairs, the first of the Seven stood up and excused herself for the night. She was the one who had the most interest in arriving at Rabona, and was the most impatient. She paid the family down the hall no thought as she drifted to sleep with a mix of hope and expectations.

Five days later, she and two others of the Seven would race past the hamlet without a thought and with no interest in resting. They would not realize until much later that the family had stayed a week in that inn when the man succumbed to illness from the rain, and that the young woman refused to allow him to leave until he recovered.

---

Double edit.

People keep going "shouldn't the Seven have sensed Clarice, Miata, and/or especially Priscilla?" The answer is no, because they didn't put anything more than a cursory sweep into it. Which is exactly what they would have needed to sense hidden/suppressed yoma energy; if the Organization's Eye can't even sense Priscilla's power until in direct contact, despite certainly having scanned for yoma energy before arriving, then it's clear that you have to put active effort into detecting hidden/suppressed yoma like Priscilla's or Clarice and Miata on the yoma suppressant.

Why would the Seven have done that? Claymore's don't travel with (sick) grown human men, which Raki clearly was. Claymores don't have brown hair, which Clarice clearly did. Claymores don't cling to men like little children (which Miata did), and when was the last time there was a Claymore as small as Priscilla? Never. Had the seven done a thorough yoma search, they could have found out. But they had no reason to: the group didn't look like Claymores (Clarice), act like Claymores (Miata), or radiate yoma energy (Priscilla).

Instead the Seven kept to themselves, ignored others so long as others ignorred them, and even Clare was too impatient to get to Rabona to look around. That is the irony and moral of the chapter: if you want to find someone lost, you need to openly look for them. You can't disguise yourself with cloaks and ignore everyone who doesn't stand out, lest the same happen to you.


	55. Galatea Arc: Almost Forgotten

Last chapter was a bit of embarrassment, as some have surely realized. Damn Star Trek name association Seven of Nine.

To address two different points that were raised of last chapter, since I feel I owe it...

-Neither side realized the yoma energy of the others because neither side actually did more than a cursory look, which is what it would have taken to sense the hidden strengths; if the Organization's current Eye has to be in contact to sense Priscilla, it's safe to reason that something more than a cursorary look is needed to detect hidden/suppressed yoma. Clarice and Miata didn't look because of suppressants and because they had no real reason to; the reassuring sight of Clarice's brown hair (meaning not a Claymore to anyone who didn't know better) and the assumption that Miata was a boy suggested to the Ghosts that the group was just a tired family, and so gave no reason to do a thorough search. Had either group seen the faces of anyone other than Clarice it would have been much different;either one of the Ghosts would have recognized Miata (an obvious Claymore), Raki (Clare) or Priscilla (Clare again), or upon recognizing one of the Ghosts as a Claymore Clarice would have introduced herself, Miata, and Raki. But that's what happens when you were cloaks to conceal your identities: people won't recognize you. Call it karmic backlash.

-There actually isn't a time disparity since the body of the installment and the final paragraph (about Clare passing by again) are several days apart: enough time for the ghosts to get to Rabona, find out about what's happened, and split up, with the non-stop running allowing Clare and her companions to make up for the lost time and, ironically, pass by Raki. I'm not planning to continue that far, but I like to think that it would be Ribul who would let them in on that little fact, because Ribul is a dick like that.

Now, having made an author's note longer than the installment, back to the story and a different arc, and my favorite Raki line yet.

---

God-Eyed Galatea had not expected to awaken at all, not after Blood Red Agatha had slammed her six inches below the pavement with two limbs missing and her other two crushed. The fact that she was awake, had the chance to awake, meant that Agatha had been defeated. With the safety of the city insured, nothing else mattered.

Content to savor the victory, Galatea rested easily on the familiar small bed. But then a hand descended on her left shoulder and she startled on guard, cursing her clumsiness. In a moment her right hand had her guest's throat in an iron-firm grip.

"I see the surgery took, at least," said a familiar voice, even as Galatea realized that the hand she had wrapped around her visitor's throat had been one that had been painfully removed during the battle. Strange how she had already nearly forgotten that. "It's good to see you survived as well."

"You…" Galatea trailed, distracted even from the miracle of her restored limbs. "You're that human from the chapel." Her eyes narrowed, her tone held all the empathy of a yoma, and her hand tensed, ready to squeeze.

"Indeed," he said with no hint of malice or resentment, and Galatea could even imagine a faint smile from his tone. "I am Raki. It's been awhile since I've had a Claymore try and kill me. I had almost forgotten how unpleasant it was."

---


	56. GA: Accusation

And I have officially typed the last extra segment/arc of _Papa_; that might not depress you now, but you won't be happy when you read it. Trust me. But now I can move onto my next project, and spend no more time (except editing) on this.

---

Galatea's grip tightened just a bit more, enough to prove a point. "You!" she came close to snarling. "You brought that… that… _thing_ into the heart of the city! Do you have any idea how much danger you put everyone, including yourself, in?!" Only the demand for answers held her back from popping his head like an over-ripe watermelon.

Raki, however, showed no sign of fear. "I'd appreciate it if you keep your voice down. There are other people recovering, you know. And _Priscilla_," he said, emphasizing the name, "is in the next room. She doesn't trust you because of what you nearly did to me, and the last thing either of us wants is for her to burst in on you strangling me. That would get messy, fast, and no one would be able to stop her."

Galatea glared and lowered her voice, but didn't loosen her grip in the slightest. Instead she forced Raki's head closer to her own, so she could give him a menacing whisper. "Give me one, just one, reason I shouldn't kill you right here for cavorting with a man-eating yoma. Give me two for why I shouldn't kill you for bringing one into this city that I've spent so long trying to save from the damn things."

"One, she hasn't eaten a single thing in all the years I've known her," said Raki, still with no fear at all. "That's why she's so small," he explained at Galatea's disbelieving look. "And two, I didn't bring her to this city. I came to find her and take her away from it."

Galatea looked at him and said one word. "Explain." But her hand was no longer threatening to choke him to death as her sharp senses detected no hints of deception.

"We've been traveling in search of someone, but we were separated. Rabona was the largest city we had ever stopped in, and I immediately headed here to check first because I feared this is where she would come. I've never seen her eat anything in the last several years, but she's approaching limit. If she had…"

He shrugged, and Galatea heard the scrape of his sword blade against the floor.

"I'd do my best, at least. That's why I ran into the church with my sword. But she was a good girl, and was just looking for me the entire time. She's rather protective of me."

---


	57. GA: Recovery

---

Galatea's blind eyes looked to the legs she could feel underneath the covers, and she slowly felt her own arms as if she had never used them before. Carefully she shifted tried to move her legs, and was rewarded when the covers moved slightly.

"My arms are fine," she said, and heard Raki mutter "I could have told you that," "but I'm not sure about my legs."

She heard Raki move closer, and then the cover of the bed were moved away. "Try walking," he suggested, and gently but firmly took her hand to hold against him as a brace. Haltingly she took an unsteady step, and then another. Within five steps she was able to restore the torn and tight ligaments and was walking without any need of help. She returned to the bed and sat on it.

"Thank you," she said. "But how did…?"

"I was one of the first to awaken," explained Raki, "and by then they were already carrying away the wounded. There was only one bare leg with a high-heel, and Priscilla was able to tell your arm from the other body parts. After that, it was a matter of placing them by appropriate stump once we moved you here."

He looked away and coughed, and she could hear the embarrassment from his tone. "I was the one to take care of you and clean you up, since I'm most familiar with Claymores. And I also, ahem, had to reopen the wounds before your limbs would take. I apologize for that."

But Galatea only chuckled lightly at his embarrassment. "If you're embarrassed and not horrified by my mark, than you must be familiar with our kind. Don't feel ashamed; it's just another favor I owe you." She paused, and then continued. "I'm surprised, though; not many people are aware of our regenerative abilities and limitations. How did you know? Did those two who saved you tell you?"

She heard Raki pull up a chair. "Let's trade favors," he suggested. "It's a long story, but if you answer my question first I'll be glad to consider it a favor fulfilled and then share the rest." Galatea nodded in agreement and Raki prepared.

"It begins seven years ago, and it began with another Claymore from your time. Did you ever know Claymore 47? Do you know Clare?"

---


	58. GA: Good Faith

---

"You don't look disappointed," Galatea observed after recalling her memories of witnessing the fall of the North. Even when she told of sensing every last yoma-energy fade away, Raki had remained attentive and smiling, just has he had since she told of coming across a certain Claymore after their separation. "I told the entire truth, I promise you."

"I don't think you've lied, believe me," Raki assured. "I just know that Clare is alive. She won't die even in face of the worst odds, any more than I have. If she can survive in the presence of an Abyssal One, and I an encounter with such a powerful Awakened One, there's nothing that will stop her from fulfilling her promise as long as I fulfill mine."

Galatea chuckled. "You have great faith in her," she admitted. "I can only pray that you are right and I am wrong." She leaned back, resting on her bed. "Now that you have found Priscilla and they have found me, what do you plan to do? Will you separate from your companions and leave?"

Raki didn't respond, and even without eyes Galatea could tell he was deep in thought, or perhaps remembering past thoughts. "Unless Priscilla looks to be losing control, I'll stay at least a bit longer," Raki said. "I promised Miata that I would return, and it wouldn't be fair if I left before Clarice awoke. I owe them that much, at least."

Galatea considered, and nodded. "I suppose," she agreed. "You're only alive now because they saved you. Good for you to remember. Well, I suppose it won't matter to me; I intend to resolve this matter once they wake up."

Raki opened his mouth to deny it, but ended up saying nothing. It wasn't his decision.

---


	59. GA: The Greater Scandal

---

The decision was made and Galatea was proven wrong, and had never been so glad to be so. Already preparations for their departure were underway; the Church was inconspicuously generously but firmly seeing them off on their perusal of the dreaded Galatea. Inconspicuously enough for any Organization spy to find, at least.

In truth, the Church had left it to the Travelers to decide how to use what little time they had left, and promised to assist however they could. The group would not lack in food, strong warm clothes, or in medicines to ease Raki's recovery. Even a modest coin would likely find its way into their baggage, even if they did not ask for it.

As it was, Galatea spent the remaining hours with them, advising and discussing whatever was at hand. But she wasn't without compassion, and soon suggested a final luxury for Clarice and her ilk; the heated baths of Rabona. Unparalleled on the continent, the city's pipes and bellows allowed for a steady flow of hot water to be pumped to the baths as needed, doing away with the need for fire and a cramped tub. Many a pilgrim came to Rabona not just for spiritual benediction, but for a chance to rest in this marvel.

For now it was cleared for them and them alone, and they freely abused the opportunity. Though nominally a last chance to clean themselves, it was clear that the brown-haired Claymore was enjoying the experience. Galatea was glad; it might be the last careless pleasure the brown-haired woman could indulge in quite some time.

"Ah…" Clarice moaned softly again, closing her eyes and sinking further into the bath.

"It is impressive, isn't it?" asked Galatea. "Nothing like at the Organization, where we had to clean in rivers and streams no matter the temperature."

Clarice only sunk further into the water, as if trying to forget those memories. "Humans know how to live," she said. "I can only imagine that other towns will do this as well one day. Then traveling wouldn't be so dirty and tiresome."

Galatea crossed her arms over her enviable form and considered. "Eventually," she conceded. "Not in small towns, but in moderate-sized villages that can easily make the yoma-fees. Then they could afford these to bring in more visitors, and then charge entry fees to bring in even more money. It could pay for itself eventually."

Clarice laughed lightly at how seriously Galatea had taken the idea. "I'm sure. You have it all planned out, don't you? You could run the merchants and make a pretty coin. I could never do that."

Galatea smiled. "It comes from being around the humans for so long," she explained. "Hiding among them, I learned quite a bit."

"Well then, hopefully we'll pick up something soon as well. Right, Miata?" Clarice asked.

When Miata didn't answer, Clarice looked over and realized that Miata wasn't even in the room with them, though even quiet Priscilla sat in the shallow child's end. The realization made Clarice's face pale, and soon she was in a frenzy of activity, leaping from the bath and grabbing two of the towels hung on the wall.

"Miata! Why did you have to run off? I know you don't like baths, but-" she said, speedily trying to tie a loose knot to keep her own towel on. "Galatea, why didn't you tell me she left?"

"I-" Galatea tried to explain, but Clarice was too impatient to listen.

"I know, our yoma suppressants and your eyes. And it was my responsibility. But this is going to be such a scandal…" she said, not even looking around the corner as she ran, attention downward as she desperately tried to tie the towel around her.

Galatea winced in sympathy as she heard the collision and the surprised gasps as two bodies fell onto the stone floor. One of those gasps turned into a smothered yell of pain, as one would expect from one with an injured shoulder.

"Raki!"

Galatea _had_ tried to warn her, to tell her that she had sensed the young man find the runaway child and, after presumably covering her, had begun to walk her back to the baths. She had tried to warn that Raki had been just about to stop around the corner, and that had she been less frantic Clarice could have heard his footsteps approaching.

Instead she can only hear and sense the tumble, the flare of life energies, and Clarice's hasty apologies as she tries to attend Raki's fall. Galatea also hears the subtle rustle of a loose cloth knot untying and a towel dropping on the floor, and sighs as Raki's own life energy spikes before he passes out as Clarice realizes just what has occurred.

"You are the greater scandal," Galatea said with a sigh as Clarice was caught between belatedly salvaging the ruins of her modesty or helping the fallen man beneath her, and resolved that there were some things Clare would not need to hear about.

---


	60. Despair Arc: Deathday

And CrimsonNoble wins the prize! The Ghosts were exactly on time: Clarice and Miata were early because they skipped the wilderness and went directly to Rabona with Raki. Amazing how simple that was.

I'd also like to point out that "Nothing like at the Organization, where we had to clean in streams no matter the temperature." makes perfect sense if you've ever fallen into a stream or creek in the winter.

---

It was a fine day to die.

Walking down the stairs one last time, Galatea traced the well-traveled stone walls, smoothed from countless individuals brushing up and down the stair case over the years. Countless individuals, but no longer countless humans. Now one of her kind had been privileged to walk these halls.

Though she could no longer see the light, it's presence inside the church was not hidden from her. The air was lighter, the children's laughter happier, and its nourishing warmth danced over her exposed hands, hands well calloused from years of a sword.

Well, they wouldn't have to do that much longer. Already she could feel the two soldiers the organization had sent after her begin their approach, hurrying with remarkable speed. Already she was remembering years of her sword experience, ready to take the blade from its hiding place. Already she was planning the best way to lead them to the Awakened Being that hid in this city, slowly tearing it apart. After that, her old and bloody hands could rest.

"Sister!"

She turned her head to Father Mor, who was rapidly approaching. "Yes?" she asked politely.

"Sister," he said, "the orphans have been brought in. I have had the younger monks take most of them away, but one of them refused to go and has hidden herself. Do you think you could…?" he trailed off. Despite her blindness, many had come to accept her skill with the children as natural, and some even suggested it was only with the spirits that she could.

Galatea weighed the time it would take to usher one final soul to the kindness of Father Mor, compared it to time remaining before the Organization's dogs would arrive, and said "Of course. Please go ahead, and I will be close behind. I have something I wish to speak to you briefly about."

Father Mor nodded and left, and Galatea watched him go with a fond smile before turning to the task at hand.

"Come out, child!" she called, humoring the little girl who wanted to play hide and seek.

Or maybe not. "I want to go out!" called an unmistakable girl's voice. "Let me leave!"

Galatea shook her head. "We can't let a young girl like yourself leave," she said, steadily moving closer to the sound of the voice. "Think of what might happen if we did?"

"Have to find him!" came the petulant reply, and Galatea heard her in the pews.

"We can help you find him later," Galatea said, "but first you have to be a good girl and come with me. You want to be a good girl for your friend, right?"

The girl stood, and Galatea extended a hand as the girl's footsteps hesitantly came closer. She could tell the girl was slowly extending a hand, when suddenly the doors to the church burst open and Galatea heard the tell-tale clank of forged steel. For one of the few times in her life, Galatea panicked: were the Organization's assassins already here? Had she missed another reinforcement?

But the young girl shared none of Galatea's surprise and alarm. "Raki!" she called.

"Priscilla!" came the relieved voice of a young man, and Galatea's heart began to calm as she heard his (His, as in not a Claymore, not someone who would lose the city into bloodshed) footsteps come closer, and the young girl hurried out of the pews to meet him.

Then Priscilla bumped into the stunned Galatea, and she saw all her hopes and plans for the city's salvation turn into ashes.

---


	61. DA: Hunger

---

The sight of the young girl on the battlefield unnerved the first men to arrive after the battle. With a simple dress, the girl with bloody feet wandered from body to body, looking at the faces of each man before wandering to the next one. It didn't matter if they were alive or dead, whole or horribly maimed, she would stand up and move away.

The first men were too concerned with finding those needing immediate attention to worry about her. The second men were busy handling other serious casualties. It wasn't until the third group of reinforcements arrived that someone went over to talk to the girl.

"Are you looking for your Father?" one of them asked gently, thinking of the many family men in the Guard.

"Looking for Raki," the young girl replied, checking another soldier.

The men looked at each other and whispered. "Do you know anyone named Raki?" "No, not in the guard." "Might it have been someone living here?"

The girl ignored them before giving a small yip that caught their attention. With no concern for the rubble and debris underfoot, she ran to a body a short distance away, near the fallen Claymores. With surprising strength for such a small frame she rolled the body over onto its back, revealing a young man in armor not normally found in Rabona. Blood covered his front, and from a distance it was impossible to see if he was even breathing.

"Raki…" she said as the men hurried over.

The first man who could hurried over, checking for breathing. "He's alive!" he exclaimed with amazement at seeing the wound. "Quick, someone help me remove this armor so he can breath! And get some bandages!"

Despite the activity, Priscilla paid them no attention.

"Raki," she said again plaintively, and an unholy chill filled the Holy City.

"I'm getting hungry."

---


	62. DA: A Promise From Hope

As a note, I went and wrote a post-chapter explanation in chapter 54 explaining why reunion didn't happen. I believe I explained it since, but people are still asking. Go reread the chapter if you're confused.

This one doesn't seem like cause for despair... until you think about what it means for the (unwritten) future, for Clare.

For Riful.

---

"Mama!"

Mama didn't respond, and Miata only ran faster, trying to find Mama before the yoma found her again. Mama couldn't be hurt again, she just _couldn't_ be, Miata wouldn't let her be.

The yoma roared, as if taunting her for losing Mama again. The sound echoed off the trees as if coming from all directions, and she could only run faster to where she had last seen Mama. If only Mama didn't insist she take those icky pills, she could have known right where to go…

The yoma roared again, not in pain but in satisfaction. Finally a direction, but it was far. Too far.

"Mama, don't die again!" Miata whispered as she ran towards the source. "Don't leave me again!"

She could see the last hill, running the last rise, hoping that someone, anyone, would protect Mama until she could get there…

"Stay down!" she heard a distant voice shout, and she was confused, because who else would be out there?

Then she crested the hill and saw him, standing protectively in front of Mama's fallen form just as he had that day, staring down the man-eater with no fear for himself. There could be no mistake. If Mama could come back, then so would he. Papa had found Mama again.

The yoma roared and prepared to attack Mama and Papa, but she wouldn't let it lay another hand on Papa and Mama ever again. And she didn't, even though Papa kept trying to save her again. But she didn't let him, never would. The last time Papa had saved her, he had gone away from her.

The yoma died and so she cried tears of relief and clung to Papa. She wouldn't let them go away again. She would kill anything that tried to break them up. She would rather die than see them separate. She would even embrace her Power to keep them.

It was a promise that would come to haunt her.

---


	63. DA: Begrudge

---

The cave was dry, but her uniform remained wet. Raki was the only one to be close to dry, no small thanks to her and Miata's cloaks that wrapped around him. Clarice didn't begrudge him, though. He was human, and couldn't endure the wet and cold like she and Miata could. His had to eat, to recover from wounds both old and new.

He had to sleep.

Clarice didn't begrudge him that either. He had been restless on the stone floor, tossing and turning and trying to relieve the pain in his wounded shoulder. Only when Clarice had moved beside him had he calmed, and now through no act of her own his head lay in her lap.

She didn't begrudge him that either. She only sat there, listening to the rain, and absently and gently stroking his hair.

He eventually stirred at her touch. "Are you still awake?" he asked drearily, eyes still closed. She could see it was a waking dream, one he wouldn't remember come tomorrow.

She paused briefly to consider her reply, but resumed stroking his hair. "Go back to sleep," she said softly. "You were hurt. You need to rest for tomorrow's journey."

He breathed deeply. "I'm sorry," he apologized with exhausted honesty. "I promise I won't fall behind."

"I wouldn't leave you behind," she promised, and he relaxed.

"You've always been too kind to me," Raki accused from his dream.

"Go back to sleep, Raki," she whispered, bending over to whisper quietly. "I promise I'll be here when you wake up."

"Thank you," he whispered, and she had to lean closer to hear his words. Their faces were only inches apart.

"Thank you, Clare."

Slowly sitting back up and leaning against the wall and listening to the rain fall outside, she didn't begrudge him that either.

---


	64. DA: The Human Element

---

_Is this… my limit? Am I still this weak?_

Of course you are. Being weak is all you've ever known, after all. Remember with shame all those times you fell and whimpered when you should have stood and smiled. When Clare saved you that first time from your not-brother, did you thank her as she deserved, acknowledge her as a selfless savior? No, you cowered and cried at the golden-eyed witch, and showed her the fear she expected. Or when you pleaded for her to spare her friend, the one who sent her the Black Card to save her from turning into a yoma. You were so ignorant then, not recognizing the kindness in preventing a fate worse than death. So foolish, just an obstacle. But then, that's what you've always been. A hindrance. A burden.

Her cook? Keep telling yourself that, kid. You know she did it out of pity. Forget how she set you aside in Rabona to get you out of the way, or how she was so concerned about your pathetic display against Ophelia that she nearly let herself get killed. Yes, you know she didn't die. She's too strong for that, but no thanks to **_you_**_. **You**_ slowed her down. **_You_** were the distraction.

_No! I promised! I promised I would become stronger, to not be a burden! I've trained too long for this…!_

Too long? You haven't trained half as long as you needed to, boy, or else this Awakened Being's hair wouldn't be through you now. Isley could have stopped all those threads with one sword arm. Weren't you paying attention when he deigned to teach you?

Give up your promises. Just save everyone the trouble and give up. Clare won't come and save you today. That's responsibility, brat. It means you have to pay for your failings. Take responsibility.

_I haven't failed yet! I won't quit. Not yet, not ever!_

Oh, you're rising to your feet. I'd be impressed, if it weren't for the fact that it's only because she's the one raising you. I wonder what she intends to do; are you about to be turned into a hostage against your friends? That would be fitting for someone as useless as you.

Oh, it looks like she doesn't even think you're good enough for that. Ready to die? Because there's not much chance you'll live through this.

_I'm going to live, and I will see Clare! I promised!_

Is Clare all you think about? Is she all that matters to you?

You disgust me, and I know that deep down you disgust yourself as well. Have you forgotten your other promises, the other people who look to you? The world doesn't just include yourself and her, you know. If you just glance around you, up from that pavement six feet down, you might see how you affect other people.

_Clarice? Miata? What are you doing here? Why are you so scared? Clarice, why is Miata so bloody?_

You really don't get it, do you? Or are you just afraid to understand? They care for you, just as sincerely as Clare. They're worried for you, fighting for you. Do you think they rushed into the Cathedral so carelessly because they found their target? You're supposed to be smarter than that. But they're weak on their own. You know that. You could have changed that.

But it's too late for that, isn't it? You're weak and pathetic, and now you'll never have a chance to be anything else to anyone else as you die away from one woman and in front of another. Have any last words, Raki? Because that pavement's starting to get real close _real_ fast…

_I'm sorry. Forgive me, Clar-_

---


	65. Rubel Arc: Distraction

Strange. I would have thought that people would have enjoyed and commented on the Despair arc more, especially the last two. I thought both of them were touching and fitting for the moment. Ah well.

Last arc. It's been fun!

---

It was a backwater, a forgotten stretch of woods that no sane man would dare wander, let alone stay and carelessly sit in the open in the dark of night, when the yoma were at their most dangerous.

But then again, Rubel was only arguably mostly sane at best. He certainly wasn't normal, sitting on top a toppled tree, smiling into the darkness. Soon enough though, as if to give purpose to his being there, footsteps calmly and quietly approached. With them came their source, a young woman with brown hair and a claymore at her back. She stopped and stood several feet in front of him, awaiting his instructions.

Rubel, smile still on his face, made as if checking a mechanical watch. "That was rather slow, Clarice. Most soldiers would have arrived sooner."

"I had to pacify Miata," Claymore 47 responded. "After that, I had to wait until she was asleep before leaving."

"One of these days I am going to have to find out just how you first managed to calm that troublesome child," Rubel mused. "Certainly none of the other soldiers she was assigned with ever managed it."

Clarice remained impassive, but from the clenching of her fists and an inadvertent swallow Rubel saw that she was drawing on all of her infiltration training to cover her true response from him, _him _of all people. He had nearly written the manual for the soldiers on that lesson. But Clarice said nothing, and so Rubel assented to a change of topic.

"I heard you had a close encounter recently," he prompted. "Not too close, by the looks of it."

"While separated from Miata earlier today, I came across an Awakened Being," Clarice reported. "It was too strong for myself, but Miata dispatched it with ease." She didn't even mention the human. How cute.

"And the human?" he prompted. "I just happened to be in the area, but eyebrows will rise when word of this returns. While we are leaving the manner of the search up to your discretion, he will only slow you down."

"Not necessarily," Clarice said. "Since Miata has found no hint of Galatea in these woods yet, I have decided to focus the search at the largest population center and then search outward. In that regards, we are going the same way, and he serves as cover for our entry into the cities."

"By which you mean Rabona, of course," Rubel said. "Their feelings for your kind are hardly secret."

"It should be possible to sneak in without causing an uproar," said Clarice. "Raki assured us as to the feasibility." What was otherwise delivered in a proper detached manner was weakened by her mistake in naming the human.

"Raki," Rubel repeated. "I believe I have heard that name before. How did you come across him?"

"During my encounter with the awakened being, he arrived and believed me to be in danger. He tried to make a distraction before Miata arrived."

"Ah, yes, Raki," Rubel finally remembered. "He was the boy who traveled with the last bearer of your number, Clare. Did he tell you that?"

Clarice nodded, and Rubel chuckled at the irony. "Well, stranger things have happened. As I said, we are leaving the manner of the hunt to your discretion, so long as the traitor is punished. Don't be letting him distract you from your mission."

Clarice nodded, but Rubel only laughed once more. That was what Clare had resolved as well.

---


	66. RA: Funny

Note: Looking back, I didn't make it clear, but installments 16 and 17 are not the same evening. There was a bit of time between the day of the bandits and the rainy night; call it less than a week, just so that events don't seem so packed in the first two/three days. It changes nothing, but makes the story feel less rushed.

---

Not quite a week later, Clarice stood in front of him once again. This time there had been no delay; the 'immediately or else' signal had led her to make a hasty and immediate excuse to go into the woods, and now she stood awaiting judgment.

The fact that she had come without hesitation, had not tried to run, may have even saved her life. The Organization took human-slaying quite seriously indeed, just as seriously as treason in fact. A soldier who would turn on the race they were made to protect might also turn on their commanders and fellow men, and then what would have been the point of going through all this trouble? It also made bad business, when humans feared their only guardians as much as the yoma.

As it was, though, Clarice did stand in front of him, and without a guilty demeanor. Points to her, then.

"I heard a funny rumor recently," Rubel began, but the lack of any smile suggested how un-funny it was. "Would you care to guess what it was?"

Clarice said nothing, which really was the only right answer she could have made.

"There I was, minding my own business and taking payment from a nearby village, and what do I overhear from the local tavern? Why, a bunch of cutthroats and unsavory sorts were telling anyone who would listen as to how they barely escaped with their lives from a demonic sword-wielder. Being the curious sort, I invited one or two to a helping of beer, eager to hear their fantastic story. Imagine my surprise when I heard a drunken man's tale about him and a group of friends trying to accost a family of three, all wielding swords, on this very road. And imagine my shock and dread when they swore by the spirits that a third of their number was savagely cut down by a Claymore."

Clarice's eyes widened, finally understanding the severity of the situation. Rubel did not smile at her discomfort. "We-" she tried to start, but Rubel interrupted.

"You were very lucky," he continued, "that all of them to a man swore that it was a male Claymore who did it. Since everyone knows that there are only silver eyed witches, and no such warlocks, it was simple enough to stop any false rumors from going around. Little Miata might never testify against you, but our Eye is on you even at this distance. You cannot get away with breaking our rules. Never forget that."

Rubel then stood, brushing his pants and letting his familiar smirk come to his face. "Enough of that," he said. "That is all in the past now. Let me see your injury, and I will be on my merry way," he said, indicating the tear in her uniform.

Clarice worked to suppress her embarrassment. "It wasn't an injury; I merely tumbled and ripped the uniform."

Rubel knelt before her, examining the torn area and tracing the neatly sewn line with his fingers. Clarice stifled a shudder and tried to think of another hand she would prefer to feel down there, one that was young and kind rather than aged and methodical and calloused to human compassion.

Finding no sign of anything amiss, Rubel nodded. "So it is; I'm surprised. These uniforms are remarkably hardy. I can get you another unblemished one, if you would like."

Clarice demurred of the offer, and Rubel only laughed to himself as he saw one hand absently trace part of the seam, as if trying to replace his lingering touch with another. For a race of warriors that prided themselves on their distinction from humans, these women could be entirely predictable the moment someone entered their lonely hearts.

---


	67. RA: Questionable Items

---

Rubel traveled frequently and far. He always had much to do; handling various Claymores, picking up the generous yoma disposal fees, even taking care to deliver the Black Cards to whoever they might be intended for. And that was all in addition to his open role in planning and crafting each new generation, and his hidden role of other duties. In short, Rubel was a very busy man, and restrained to such enjoyments as he could do while walking on the road or in the hills or forests of the continent.

One such past time had been to search his long and detailed memories for an instance for having ever had to do this duty, and he was pleasantly surprised to come up blank. Even Clare, with her young tagalong, hadn't managed this.

"I heard a funny story," Rubel said to Clarice once again, but with a grin to show that it was a different type of story from their last encounter. "I am even pleased to say that it was new even for me. I do believe I owe you congratulations; this is the first time I can recall being sent on a mission by the Organization's bursars."

If Clarice was embarrassed, her ability to hide it had improved. "All expenses have been with the goal of expediting our travel into Rabona," she promised, as impartial as any Claymore issuing a report.

Rubel chuckled. "That certainly seems to be the case for most of these; lodging, enough food for two humans and not two Claymores. Medical bandages as well, though I don't see a new tear on you. Is Raki recovering well?" he asked politely.

"It was a shallow wound to his shoulder," Clarice answered stiffly. "I am just ensuring that it doesn't get worse and hinder us."

"I'm sure you are," said Rubel, smile never dropping. "I've heard stories about the swords family, and among them just how doting the young daughter is of her father. We certainly wouldn't want Miata upset and disturbed now that she appears to have taken a liking to young Raki, now would we?"

"No," agreed Clarice. "We wouldn't. That is why I have chosen to infiltrate Rabona at his pace."

"I am sure that is your entire reason," Rubel assured. "Raki seems to have that effect on our soldiers; perhaps we should consider recruiting him, and see if there is any special reason behind it."

Clarice said nothing, and made extreme effort to not make any reaction at all. Rubel wondered which way she was inclined to side with.

"Well," he said, "that can be discussed later, if ever. Back on subject, there were a few peculiar purchases that have raised questions. The purchase of a small wardrobe's worth of clothes and renting an ox and a small cart especially. Some of our clothes-makers were wondering just what was wrong with your general fare and cloaks."

"Raki strongly advised against it," Clarice answered on purely tactical terms, "on the grounds that cloaks in this season would only give us away to the Rabona guard. He told of his own experience infiltrating the city before, and suggested it would be better to hide the swords in the cart where they wouldn't be seen. Since it is unclear how long we will be in the city, multiple changes of clothes for blending into the different parts of the city seemed appropriate."

Rubel called her bluff by pulling out a receipt and reading off a small number of items that Raki certainly hadn't been in the store while she bought them from the slyly grinning female shop keeper. Most of the items were plain and reasonable, befitting a modest woman and her daughter. A few were most certainly not.

"As I recall," Rubel said, "your grades during the seduction training were sub-par. I would advise against any ideas about posing as a lady of the night; Rabona is under a curfew that is strictly enforced, as I'm sure your friend can attest."

"Yes sir," Clarice said dispassionately despite her tinged cheeks betraying her, but she made no move to offer to return the items in question.

---


	68. RA: Getting Away With It

Just what did Clarice buy? Did she, will she, would she ever get the courage to use it? The world may never know.

Second to last installment!

---

"Galatea fled, you say?"

"Yes sir," Clarice acknowledged at the end of her report. "The Church told us that she had left before we awoke and recovered. They had no interest in trying to restrain her."

A few days travel out of Rabona, Rubel watched the liar before him and hid a smile. Anyone else from the Organization could have seized upon that final offering of explanation as the red herring it was, would have unraveled her entire tale then and there. But Rubel was not anyone else in the Organization; arguably, he was as far from everyone else in the Organization as could be. He saw the opportunity for what it was.

"Very well," he said, and tsked to himself at Clarice's subtle relaxation. "If that is the case, your main mission is unchanged. You and Miata are to pursue Galatea wherever she may be, and to silence her." Clarice nodded, perfectly content to take a fool's errand into the backwaters for who knew how long.

"How are your travel companions?" he asked. "You seem to have picked another one up; are you intending to become Mother to all the lost souls?"

Clarice shook her head. "She is the child that Raki was looking for when we met, Priscilla. Now that they have reunited, we have agreed to travel together so long as we are able. He promised that she would not be a burden on us." And compared to a wounded man, a child wouldn't be a significant burden. But Rubel was perfectly content to let Clarice and one of the Organization's top soldiers travel as slowly as they wanted on their errand, so long as it diverted the Organization's resources and manpower. But something nagged in his mind…

"Priscilla?" he asked, surprised. "I see." Memory and possibilities and implications merged together in his mind, and he wondered just how much Clarice, or even Raki, knew about the history behind their guest. Well, that would be their problem. Some problems merely solved themselves, if given the proper motivation and opportunity.

"Though you surely have your own plans of where to look first, there is one small detour I would like you to make," he said, and Clarice listened with close attention. "I would like you to go to a small town to the west of here; the same town your companion came from, in fact."

Clarice blinked in surprise. "We were already intending to start off to the West, thinking that Galatea would have fled away from the Organization's base now that Rabona was no longer safe," she admitted. "Why do you want us to go there?"

"You are to search for another soldier who has gone missing. Our Eye, in fact; Number 6, Renee. She was sent to exterminate a minor yoma in the town, but disappeared shortly afterwards. We haven't heard of her since, and are concerned. Though you two have never met, your task is to take Miata and to scout the area and find and bring her back."

Clarice paused. "Is this an elimination mission?" she asked. "Is she suspected of having deserted?"

Rubel chuckled. "Not at all, but her disappearance does not bode well. We hope that she has just gotten lost, and is on her way back now. But if she has, take care of her. If she hasn't, do your best to return her alive. That is your mission. Now go, before this rain breaks. You will want shelter soon."

Clarice nodded and quickly left, visibly in a lighter mood than when she came. Her little white lie was safe with Rubel, and he was more than happy to let her monopolize Miata's time and effort away from the Organization however she wished. Rubel ignored his own advice and sat and watched her go.

"I wonder if I should have reminded her that the West is Riful's domain, or of her interest in powerful and perceptive soldiers like Miata?" he mused aloud well after she had left hearing range. He laughed and shrugged his soldiers, walking away into the woods. Some problems just took care of themselves.

---


	69. RA: Papa

And this is it. 53 word pages, 24,099 words, 69 installments. Clarice's tale is now at an end: only danger, disaster, and the faintest of hopes are left before her. Will she be forgotten for another? Will there still be two of them left to choose between? Will Raki even be there to make a choice? And what will become of Miata, and Priscilla? Or will Clare have resolved the problem of Riful and Renee well before Raki even arrives?

Well, that is another story, and one I have no intention of pursuing. Anyone who wishes to may try their hand at a continuation, so long as I am informed and given my due.

As I said, this is the end. No more arcs, no more plans, and sadly no more Clarice, Raki, and Miata, who were all fun to write for. About the only thing I could think about writing another installment for would be if I discovered/was told of some good fanart of the story, but I'm sure that will never be.

And I'd like to give a final thanks to Norihiro Yagi, who created such an interesting cast of characters and an interesting world as well.

Until next time, and treasure your own families while you still can.

---

It wasn't in the backwoods of civilization, and it wasn't even facing Clarice, but the nostalgia of seeing the old Number 47 more than made up for it. It even made up for an interesting conversation, admissions of treason and subterfuge and all.

"All that being said," began Uma after Rubel shared his hopes for the Organization's collapse, "I still don't understand why you'd bother telling us about the search for the missing soldier. If Riful succeeds in awakening Rafaela, then wouldn't that cause more trouble for the Organization?"

"It's because he's hoping our kind souls will become wrapped up in this mess," explained Clare. Hearing Cynthia's surprise, she continued. "He knows we can't possibly defeat Riful. He can say whatever he likes, but I know he'd like nothing more than to see all us half-awakens dead."

Rubel only chuckled. "How harsh. But I know that you will gladly look for Riful and step into her lair on your own violation. After all, you are still searching for the boy from your travels, no? Raki?"

If her mood had been suspicious before, it turned hostile in a flash and years of training and conditioning were thrown away as Rubel found himself thrown against the stone wall. "What did you do? What do you know?" she demanded, snarling, and holding him up against the wall with a single arm.

"Only that your friend is traveling with a pair of soldiers who were assigned days ago to search for Renee, before we knew Riful was in the area," Rubel admitted freely. "I'm not even sure where they are at the moment; I was expecting them to come from the very route you arrived from. Or perhaps they sensed a lead, and left to explore it. Perhaps you passed them on the road? Who knows?"

"You would use him to extort me?" demanded Clare, and from his position Rubel could see her eyes flash silver in righteous fury.

"Of course not," Rubel said. "An hour ago I didn't even know you were alive, and our meeting here was of purest coincidence. But now that you are aware that there is even the possibility, I know you won't risk being wrong. Riful certainly wouldn't pass up his companions, if nothing else."

"The soldiers?" Cynthia asked from behind.

Rubel nodded. "While one is lowest soldier of all, the other is the Organization's Number 4. As her number would imply, she is very strong and her senses are amazingly sharp. She doesn't even need to sense yoma energy to track her pray."

"The very kind of soldier Riful would want to awaken and make into an ally," deducted Uma. "Is that what you're saying?"

"Indeed. And since both soldiers have taken to young Raki, Riful may just realize that a young wounded human may just be the sort of leverage she needs. Many soldiers would rather die by torture than be awakened, but just what sort of limit would they have for someone they care about being endangered? That is why I know you will look to rescue Renee, just in case young Raki has already found her or soon arrives to make the attempt. He is the kind of man to do that, if you've heard the tale of Rabona yet."

"Bastard!" hissed Clare, but with her mind so diverted she wasn't holding Rubel against the wall.

"Don't be like that," he said, gently removing her hand from his throat. "I've told you all this because I favor you. You now have a chance to be reunited with your lost one, to save him like you wanted to do seven years ago. It doesn't matter what you think, or even if you believe me. From the moment you brought me Teresa's head and wanted to join the Organization, I felt this was to be."

Rubel stood tall, smiling his withered smile. "I always felt I was the one who brought you up, and supported you. Helping you pursue your quest, checking your health, even telling you how he had been taken by the slavers. All of those are natural for a guardian to do for their charges. Seeing you after so long truly does make me happy, Clare. I feel like a proud Papa."

---


End file.
